Freedom II

Freedom stood upon the mountain top to view the rising sun
That day he felt happy walking tall and straight

The sun brought warmth to the travails of his fight
A fight he’d surely ne’er for granted take

Freedom looked down upon the villagers
Within their village many roamed carefree

But unlike Freedom they were unaware
What they could think and feel they could not see

Yet Correctness could be seen – distinct - by villagers that day
Spreading word that Freedom was a danger

Raise your placard high; Correctness could be heard to say
And call out self-thought and opinion as a stranger

Oh, my! Correctness is a foolish man - he’ll cause my village certain strife
Said Freedom as he left the mountain top

We must retain our right to congregate – our right to speak our minds
Or otherwise our freedoms we’ll allot

As Correctness walked and talked that day a grey cloud could be seen
As the day passed by Freedom it would follow

A sure sign of danger looming - of our freedoms being reigned in
As Freedom started to flounder, lurch and wallow

You have no right to talk the truth - to speak ill of others
You have no right to say just what you think

You cannot harm the feelings of those considered less than brothers
Or our village’s morality will sink

Freedom was losing patience with Correctness and the throng
As the cloud over the latter moved away

Villagers nodded; yes Correctness - yes I do believe
One should not speak ill - one surely shouldn’t stray

But Freedom thought this madness, foolishness and folly
We’ll all be ruined if you follow through

Our union will be put asunder and then we’ll all be sorry
Our free land will be lost to me and you

Freedom or Correctness - who will win the day
It all depends who you listen to

The first one on the podium will be the one to spread the word
They’ll be the first one and they’ll be the last one heard

Let the villagers hope it’s Freedom - for they ought to cherish these
So many villages have none of their own

The right to speak their mind - a right through all their live long years
Is a right to be encouraged - to be sown.

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Postscript: minor changes to the original version first published in Prism, An Anthology, by the same author, Nov 2016