Ball & Chain

Your playful voice lifts me up,
your welcome tweets make me smile.
Your presence is smooth,
pleasant, and soothes
and I almost forget for a while…

I know you don’t owe me anything,
and I’d never take your pity.
Yet, I wonder if what ails me,
binds and derails me,
is beyond your capacity.

It is I who am truly sorry
for being unable to soar.
Even as my heart wishes to fly
with you into the sky,
my mind is tethered to the floor.

Will I ever be free of these chains,
these sins that drag me down?
Am I never to take wing again?
Hear the wind sing again?
Just scamper on the ground?

I may never find another as you,
of that I’m acutely aware.
But if there’s one thing I can do,
it’s not letting it drag you too:
it is my burden to bear.

I’m too well anchored to hope
to achieve escape velocity.
Until I find a way to break free,
or learn to somehow carry it with me,
the ball and chain is my reality.

Terence Tuhinanshu

Terence Tuhinanshu

poet. thinker. designer. developer. citizen of the world.
Philadelphia