Traded One Master for Another

i traded one master for another

It came for me one inconspicuous night

though i didn't know it came for me because it strolled through my cabin like it had been before

it flew in on a cool evening breeze smelling of freshly laundered cotton

it tiptoed in so as not to wake master

i heard the faint sound of mariachi dance around my ear as it clicked its heels around the room

it was quiet but tantalizing enough to stir me from my bed, spinning me around with no direction

i tasted salt on my lips as I wiped the sleep from my eyes, taking in the magic show in all its glory

i was the only one it came for, not special but intended

you would think that I would have cried out and alerted the dogs to save my own skin, screamed

i see now how that could have been right, but

you can't know how good it felt as it shrouded my shoulders in warmth I had only known as a child

you probably condemn me now peering at me through these frigid bars, you see

before I ever tasted freedom, I never imagined I would

you must heed my warning

before i lived on this dirt floor, i thought I was flying

before the wool was torn off, i thought I was free

now i watch my memory self in horror

before i never had time to know my memory self

now i dream of her every night weeping as she spins on those wooden floors

now i cannot stop the repeat of her folly, dooming herself like a mouse to a trap

we flew through the night air when it asked if I wanted to be free

now of course i wanted to be free, what a question

we flew to the highest heights, kissed the tops of mountains, glided away from the familiar fields

we saw millions of stars, as the fresh early morning air flushed my cheeks

let's go back now i said as the sun crept over those unknown sage peaks

we were nowhere i had ever known, shivering and shaking from the once exhilarating cold

let's see more it said dont you want to be free

let's leave those fields behind it said i can protect you and make you free

for real?

for real.

what's the catch, revealing the final, fleeting part of myself with intuition

for you to be with me forever, it said

what's wrong with that, what could be wrong with that

what's painful about a life of dancing and seeing and flying

So you see it said

what's better than a life with me

so my heart swelled, the choice had been made long before we flew through the molten lava sky

so deal it said

yes, i want to be free i screeched as my lungs seared with burning pain

so the blood from my wrist rose up and painted itself above me, marking an X over my head

yes, yes it is done it said

yes, i can be free i said

no one can see me in the night sky anymore

yes, i agreed to be with it forever under the cloak of darkness in this metal cage

no more light or sound or feeling or joy

no one to sing with, touch and feel human warmth

i toil in this field of ash and dust alone

no feeling in my hands as i sow seeds of despair and reap regret

i never saw it coming for me

i never saw the guided hand as a chain around my wrist

but nevertheless, i live to tell you my tale.

i would be remiss if i didn't save you from the dangers of the depths of the River Styx

but you escaped once, escape again, you scream through watery orbs

but you don't understand

i traded one master for another