AFTER THE PARADE

• Anoosh Arta ( Hosseini Kamal)
• [email protected]

AFTER THE PARADE

After the parade

I went to my date

Why didn't you attend?

Has this become a trend?

I celebrate with or without a parade

I am free, this is how

I want my day to spend

I reminded my friend

of the struggles we had to end

Have you forgotten

all about the traps and bends?

No, dear friend! I haven't...

I remember how I was banned

and how I was delayed

Back to my past

trapped in a maze

A maze with no ends

no exits, no egress

nothing to yearn

The path was coarse

somber and forced

I was enslaved

by a gloomy source

They told me to do

what they believed was right

Unaware that their right

was my worst dream at night

I was confined by their beliefs

their rules, their credence

and their deceits

Their rope was their faith

their shared lies, their hate

They tied me up

They couldn't sense the real trait

I believed their lies

that I was weak

not knowing the truth

breakable like a twig

I saw me as a shame

a disgrace to blame

Ignored by God

cause I was not the same

Hopeless and somber

wandering in the maze

I believed in darkness

as my only phase

Suddenly, flashed

glory of the universe

the breeze brought me

the scent of diverse

I looked closer and saw the glaze

That can't be true...

There's no me

trapped in a maze

I tied up my shoes

and walked the trace

There came glitters

to light up the grace

I finished the walk

I reached the end

More stubborn than ever

I didn't want to blend

I found my real me

my worth to see

another blessing

in this vast sea

I puffed the maze away

like dust off a tray

It was all in my mind

the maze was a betray

I am free now

free of the maze

free of illusions

others' judgements and praise

I live my life the way I choose

that is my absolute right

and I will never lose

I do the parade to celebrate

but if I don't...so what?

My whole life is a parade

I fancy me in this immense sea

as a drop of water to make it be

to be the glory, to be pure

no matter white, blue or azure

To make it flow, run deep and go

Only together we can make life glow