Can you feel the beat of my heart

As you once did?

Flesh…

Blood coursing through my veins.

Though strong, not superhuman.

~

I bleed the souls of my fathers when cut,

Shed rivers of tears when broken,

Succumb to infirmities with hastening age,

Scar, ugly and jagged in healing,

Die a mortal death when called by the Creator.

~

You and I, conjoined in our humanness,

Why do you treat me otherwise?

The lash of your venom has left permanent tears.

Can you not refrain?

These are not badges of honor I wear, but disgrace,

On display to this cynical, forsaken world.

~

Treated as a carnival sideshow…no longer!

I am not a marionette bequeathed for amusement,

And you are not my puppet-master.

With sickle these ties shall be no more;

Dignity awaits me just beyond this stage.

~

As I reach for the exit door,

Claws dig into my flesh in one final bid,

But I am resolute in my determination;

Pulling free of your hideous grasp,

Free of control, free of your loathing,

Liberated from bondage.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~