#Poetry Challenge: #WDYS #TankaTuesday

Published on by balroop singh
Image Credit; Eveling Salazar @ Unsplash

always elusive –
is freedom an open book?
ask a butterfly
an embodiment of ease
it encases empowerment.
© Balroop Singh

*** 

Freedom?

If your muse craves for inspiration
Tell her to tarry, to abandon her flight
And look at this book with a strange title: ‘Free Forever’
And ponder: is freedom an open book?
Is it a flowing river?

Within the raging battles 
Of greed, of power, of control
Freedom comes with a price – it’s a ransom.
It demands every moment of our life,
Of our heart, our love, our soul.

It is so basic yet so elusive!
Can you trap the butterflies?
Can you capture the human spirit?
Only Mother Nature knows freedom
Only she knows how to survive.

Or wait for spiritual awakening,
A journey into the unknown
How do we know it grants freedom?
They say the soul transcends boundaries
Doesn’t it come back to the same world?
© Balroop Singh

Thanks to Sadje for choosing an inspiring image for her #Whatdoyousee -300 challenge.

Thanks to Willow & Colleen for the inspiration to write syllabic poetry. The challenge this week is to write a “Taiga.” A Taiga is similar to a Haiga, but with a tanka instead of a haiku.

Thank you for reading my poetry.
Here is the Amazon link for my new poetry book.

For more poetry, hang out with  Hues Of Hope 

All the posts on my blog are created by me and are protected by copyright. It is strictly prohibited to use them to train AI technologies.

51 thoughts on “#Poetry Challenge: #WDYS #TankaTuesday”

  7. Such an interesting poem, Balroop … almost an invitation to contemplate the true meaning of freedom and what it means to be fully free. It made me wonder about our choices to be free and our choices to tie ourselves to people, place, the physical world, and ideas. Wonderful!

    1. I love how you go deep into the thoughts of the poem to interpret it, Diana. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and understanding the metaphors. 🥰

  17. A lot of people have tried to answer this question–What is freedom? Freedom is when you have nothing left to lose (a serious restatement of Solzhenitsyn’s original quote) works well for me. I like yours, too, though–“is freedom an open book? Is it a flowing river?”

    1. “Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” This famous quote by Rousseau is the true definition of freedom, which is more like a mirage.
      Thanks for sharing your thoughts Jacqui.

  19. You’ve outdone yourself, Balroop. Your poetry is lovely. I’m all for spiritual awakenings! I wonder if we truly understand what freedom is. It seems everyone has a different definition. I liked your discussion above. “Freedom is a mirage.” If that is true, maybe we’ve all bought into the myth of freedom? Yet, for me, freedom is more about the ability to choose. Once we have no choice, we have no freedom. Have a wonderful week. 🌻

    1. You are right Colleen. Freedom is interpreted according to the beliefs of an individual and how much he has tasted it. Even choices are chained by various factors and circumstances. We have to think twice before choosing.
      Thank you for sharing your insights, much appreciated.

  20. A thought provoking poem, Balroop ji. The use of questions in the tanka invites readers into the poem and makes them pause and think. ‘Free forever?’ It made me ponder.

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