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Poet's Note: "Dear Liberty" has always been one of my favorite poems (though I suppose I say that for every one ;) mainly because of the message it shares that I believe is so, SO relevant to our broken world. Stereotypes, trends, popularity, cliques, judgement, it's all so ever present, specifically for teenagers and young adults. We all feel the need to be someone the world likes, to fit in, to have the 'cool' stuff, to just be LIKED. And through that the overused saying 'be yourself' has been born. And while this poem centers around that idea, it does more than just say those two words. It shows how EVERYONE is different, weird, quirky, unique, because it is those aspects that have been coded into us that give us a purpose on this earth. And if we try to forget who we are... we'll never get to see what our special future holds.

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Dear Liberty,

Journey's long, and the price is high,
A mountain tall, and an ocean wide;
Massive array, crossroads undefined,
Each choice is a dead end, no matter how hard you try.

Tears tired from shedding, crumpling dreams to the floor,
Energy draining, streams pouring out of control;
Fog bleakly thicker, nowhere left to turn,
Cracks in the mirror, piercing shards in your hope.

Strength darkly empty, for each breath it's a war,
No cause and no answer, a mindless endure;
Motions fly by, no thinking, no feeling,
Each day an endless ride, falling faster to reality.

Chains wrapping tightly, clenched pain you don't deserve,
A hold out of your grasp now, though it was never there at all;
No hope, endless chaos, contradictions in the words,
Purity in your question, no definite answer anymore.

You've fought and you've hidden, each high to another die,
Watching and waiting, hoping they don't see how hard you try;
Effort leads to worn down, broken collapsing to the floor,
Crying in the darkness, pain stabbing through your soul.

You're a captive to the fall out, bound to the raging fray,
Handcuffs crafted in a lifetime, throughout each step forward, two steps away;
Rhythm pulsing around you, but you can never catch the beat,
Too slow and a little faster, never a happy in-between.

Effortless solutions, or so it seems there must be,
But they pick and choose their blessings, only granting where the stardust falls free;
Wrong place, wrong time, left behind in the shadows,
Lost alone in the darkness, still shaking in the rages.

Where is your shooting star? Where is your freedom wind?
Where is your ride to glory? Where is the end to all of this?
To where's the destination? Your map seems faulty made,
Fading into the distance, dusty clouds at every end of day.

Screams more of a whisper, voices bouncing around,
A call you're unfit to discover, you just can't seem to hear the sound;
You push yourself, break yourself, press harder through the pain,
And you blame yourself, shame yourself, crackling fire of your own brain.

Pressure yet in hold, whistling wind in stronger force,
Walls rising higher, blocking all out of its course;
Ocean drowning, stormy tumbling, crashing harder each step you take,
Not a climber, not a survivor, only bending beneath the weight.

Burdens growing, freedom fading,
Depression's island of raging shores;
Seclusion to a hostage hopeless,
Every last freedom drowned, rained out, and torn.

Freedom is thriving, excitement, so pure,
It's a mind freeing sunlight, a restful peace you procure;
Rising triumph that carries, all your burdens away,
Acceptance, deliverance, full confidence in all you say.

Knowing that you matter, freedom brings you to bright filled days,
Matching love, light, and belonging, into a life blooming fantasy;
All you want, all you dream, fulfilled in that one word,
But mind-blowing revelation waits for you on that freedom's shores.

What you've hoped, what you've longed, what you've waited for through every night,
This freedom for which you're searching, is not a reality you can find;
Vision is but a trickster, playing eyes to believe what they see,
Because one mind, one heart, one longing, is so easily bent to believe.

Belonging's but another falsehood, a misunderstanding of what freedom truly means,
For the world falls into how you see it, you make it to what you choose to receive;
Mind games roped into playing, trickery's the world's own toughest fight,
Played everyday into believing, that there's only one way to do life right.

Freedom they say is moving, how the world around you moves,
Freedom they define as fitting, into every standard and every set of rules;
And freedom they call successful, as the path to yours, mine, and ours,
But that freedom is not for what you've been searching, that's not that sort of freedom at all.

People come, people go, time passes inevitably over all,
Mountains rise, oceans swell, a series of ups and downs;
Next expectation, next checkmark, next fill in of the box,
Always another, always the other, always a struggle to just survive the fall.

An endless game, an endless contest, no one can ever be just right,
A constant chase, never ceasing rain, burning fire as the pressure ignites;
A cycle run over and over, like a circle, no start, no stop,
Can't break it, can't fake it, can't make it, so much, but nothing at all.

Those caught in that freedom, none are truly free at all,
But they hide, hoping comfort, will come to them if they just press on;
But they're wrong, oh so wrong, there's no end to that pointless game,
There's only more trials, more stressful running, only blessings like acid rain.

What you need, what you yearn, reverse your perspective to change,
Because if you blink your eyes to open, you'll see what really removes the pain;
An answer only you can find, a secret you choose to discover,
It's a word that's like no other, a vigorous feeling of full power.

Liberty, that's your answer! Liberty, run wild and free,
Liberty is liberation, the destination you so desperately need;
It's the end of the journey, the mission's goal behind the lies,
It's the cure to every hurting, every tear drop from your eyes.

Liberty brings true belonging, because you belong to the world you see,
Liberty, it's time for you, to make your own reality;
The world is yours to mold, your home built happily,
Your chance to shine, so take it! It's the end to misery.

These bonds are made for breaking, these rules cast out to sea,
They're not the standards that define you, Liberty, that's you and me!
You find life when you choose to live it, Liberty, that's the path you seek,
It's the way where happiness' ever blooming, joyous and melodic in harmony so free.

Everyone's a shooting star, a specialty of their own design,
And every heart is made for flying, to soar high into liberty's skies;
Originality a purpose, the goal of you and I,
We march though the drums stop playing, never let our one chance fly by.

Meaningless is conforming's guideline, trying to bind us to its vile lies,
There's no one who can make us subside now, cause each day is a once in a lifetime;
We're perfect, important, Liberty we're truly free!
When we block out the noises, make our own bolded choices, and live to be all that we're made to be.

No right and no wrong, because you're the only you there'll ever be,
Never was, never is, and there's never going to be!
Not a day, not a moment, that'll ever be the same,
Only one life, one shot, one answer, to finally building your legacy.

Just you, it's your race now, your destiny awaits,
Full of options, full of choices, and none of them will be mistakes;
That's liberty when you step out, and refuse to be locked inside,
It's your journey, it's your mountain, it's your exhilarating ride.

They can't tell you what to be, they can't tell you if you're right,
They can only watch you as you rise up, flying higher to the skies;
Liberate your world when you see, that there's no need for a disguise,
We're all different for a purpose, so don't let your purpose die!

Liberty, we're all equally special, we're only ranked in each other's eyes,
Change how you choose to see it, chains crumbling broken in the shift of light;
Liberty, no one can hold you back now, because we're all different and we're all alike,
In the same, in uniqueness together, there's endless possibility starting tonight.

No one is better, and no one is worse,
And when you belong to your own purpose, your world can't give you anymore hurt;
Your comeback, your show off, show them how amazing each one of us can be,
Because this world needs more people, who choose to stand up and become truly free!

They'll notice the difference, and that notice turns into applause,
Accept the flaws and the failures, because they make you even more special in who you are;
Liberty, you're triumphant, when you see the world in a lens of your way,
You're free to live, be, and prosper in each day never to be the same.

Leave your mark through yourself, through that one lovely you,
Because your calling is to a finish line, only one heart can ever pursue;
The journey's long, the price is high, but it's worth it every step,
Burdens lighter, road grown wider, when you transform your perspective.

A beautiful view comes from exactly where you are,
Liberty, reach your hands out, can you feel the stardust now?
All around you, glowing brighter, than any ray from heaven's sun,
Ashes turned is all the pain now, burning out in flickers, one by one.

Liberty, you're liberated! You're the you you're meant to be,
So let the world feel the heat from your fire, show them how you're liberty free!
Burn brighter, fly higher, when they try to drag you down,
Flow in laughter, don't you tire, you're living in color now.

Liberty, surrender to your greatness! Because you're greater when you sit back for the ride,
All this running will break you down in exhaustion, so just glide on the light ray of life;
Liberty, there's your star, shooting wide across the sky,
And upon it, you're riding, with no care and no desire to hide.

It's a sense of new discovery, so empowering in indescribable ways,
Cause Liberty, you're growing brighter, and your star will never fade away;
There's glory in this answer, on top of the world starting today,
Cause Liberty, here's my promise-

There's only one star that can glow that way.

From, Rea

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Please tag anyone you think would benefit from reading this ~~>

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