"Awaiting Freedom (poem)" by Emma-Jane C. Smith

The air quivers and the trees about me shiver


I am cold in my prison of endless green


I shall live here until my purpose has passed


And only then will these chains release my restless soul

I wish I were the wind to go where I please


To travel beyond this unwieldy and wild forest


I am alone here, caught by my promise


I will wait until I am released

I see the sky and the freedom of the clouds


I weep and they weep with me


But I know they do not understand


For only I have come to know the reason

There is a constant trepidation, a palpable stir


For it is I who instils the breath of life with it


I cry out sometimes to be saved from prison


But there are none but the animals to hear my call

Then I see a stranger’s journey has brought them to me


Perhaps it is he who has come to save me


But he is a child, alone and as cold as I am in the winter chills


I call to him and he comes, his eyes of innocence wide

He sees me there, caught in my prison


His hand twitches forward, and inches towards me


I hold my breath and the trees about me still as if frozen in time


His hand slips into mine, his mind slips into mine, we are one

He pulls me from my resting pace, I cry out for joy


The clouds flash in exuberance and wonder


I am cold metal in his palm, a hilt and blade


I am free from my prison of stone

For I am Excalibur and he is king…