Freedom And War

• Leah Joshua, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2022

I will tug at the strings holding me back.
I need the freedom, the peace, not the war!
Tug, pull, heave at the strings holding me back.
War in the house, the city, the country.
Times of distress, I need to get away!
Fights of history, repeating itself -
I plead, I pray, I beg, I cry, I run.
War all around me, Peace... non-existent.
Blinds are down, gates are closed, cities are gone.
Midnight black crows and shadows of sorrow.
I am surrounded by a wall of stone.
Power of the past, force of the future.
Helplessness surrounds our broken people.