Where Does He Go From Here?

By Lynn Ockersz

He is out ambling in the high-noon heat,

Leaving behind those dark, dismal prison walls,

And heads for his waiting, purring VIP car,

With its protective, cavernous, darkness so fleeting,

Driving himself onward with the thought,

That he will be back in a shackle-free life,

Now that his long-fought reprieve has been won,

But how could he silence that Voice within,

That says he has much to account for?

How wipe out that creeping fear for his life,

That will be a Millstone bearing him down?

For such questions that crowd his mind,

There are no easy answers at hand,

But our pardoned prisoner feels he is in a tightening bind,

That will make lasting rest difficult to come by,

But he also tells himself in a chiding voice,

That he has to be back in a formidable seat of power,

Recalling that fighting fire with fire,

Is a possible path to some respite;

But how could he put down that Voice within,

And its constantly-scorching reprimand,

That with him all has not been well?

But the Voice also drives home the truth,

That humans need not necessarily remain,

Prisoners of their past.­