A Whisper Of Freedom

By Kaashiyaa MS

A veil of darkness, no cruel souls in sight

  Nothing but sticks of metal and a starry night

I looked up at the gleaming stars with dreamy eyes

And as I did, clouds of memories cascaded over my mind

Oh, how I used to be

An untamed beast, me

A whisper I hear from the outside world

The clouds fade away as to the interferance I observe

“Dear tiger cub, you may seem little behind these tall bars,

But by the lies of size, should you not be deceived ” 

said the mysterious sound of stars

“You may be confined, but still a beast you are,

And those beast instincts are ones that will take you far”

“So run tiger cub, for you are no longer a cub but a king on his throne

Run far until you see no man

And run far until your spirit is free to roam”

The transcendent voice dissapeared leaving more than sparks glowing inside 

As I finally made my decision to break the bars

And as a tiger, finally leave the remains of shackles behind 

The story/more about the poem:

Through this poem I have tried to depict a story of a tiger, kept in a cage, in a zoo, getting hope from a mysterious voice one night. Here, I haven’t mentioned who actually says these lines leaving the reader to ponder about it themselves. In the first line, the words ‘cruel souls’ refers to the humans who put the tiger in captivity. In the beginning the tiger is referred to as a ‘cub’ to emphasize how small and powerless he felt in this cage and later on he gets back his courage and finally decides to break free. This is emphasized in the last line ‘and as a tiger’. ‘The remains of shackles’, also in the last line, refers to the tiger's captive life which he now has broken free of. Another phrase in stanza 3 is ‘sound of stars’. I used this to portray how the voice actually helps him believe that his dreams of freedom can be achieved, hence the metaphor of ‘stars’. ‘But by the lies of size, should you not be deceived’ this line refers to how the tiger perceived his limitations and inner strength, forgetting what a majestic creature he is in comparison to the large cage put by the humans.

By Kaashiyaa MS