July 7, 2016

Three poems by Elizabeth P. Brooks: "Cry Out," " My Freedom," and "Oh Freedom."

Elizabeth P. Brooks is originally from Trinidad and Tobago and now calls Tampa Bay home. She is deeply concerned about human dignity and the need for social justice. She is outgoing, loves the sound of laughter and the power of the word. She is a performance poet and has had several poems and two non-fiction essays published in Indiana Voice Journal. She is the author of a recently published chapbook ,“You May Applaud Now and other poems” and she is currently working on a novel and many other projects. She is a reference librarian at Saint Leo University in Dade City, Fla., and volunteers as an adult literacy tutor in Tampa. 





Cry Out

Freedom is significant, always heralded, celebrated
anticipated, pregnant with possibilities.
It is a birth from chaos, a collective gasp.
Then the voices and the senses
cry out again for peace
cry out again for equality
cry out for justice
cry out to dismantle the corruption of
the madness of the new system.
Free consumers find themselves living on the edge
with limited privilege.
They sacrifice and spend hard earned dollars
for unsavory choices, while being preyed upon.
They ingest but are unable to digest
the deceptive business practices and toxic ingredients
from big businesses, particularly in food
and pharmaceutics. Insulting humanity.
Many practices of corruption become the
accepted standard, the norm.
The goal and the dream of big businesses
is not about morality, not about equality, not about
harmony nor stability but the irony is, big businesses
model for freedom is buying politicians, consequently
disregarding the quality of life, eroding human dignity.
That is the outcome.
The engine is propelled by greed and dishonesty.

Cry out!





My Freedom

I celebrate my freedom, daily.
I am thankful that I live in a country
where I can celebrate Him.
Freedom is the taste of sweet surrender
Surrender to Jesus,
my Lord and my Master. My freedom comes
from His sovereign hand, my King,
my King of Kings.
I am part of the Kingdom
my fiefdom breathes Love
is built on Light, Truth, Joy and Justice-
that is freedom, knowing no matter
what I am going through
Illness or injustice. Nothing but LOVE
can touch me, nothing but love can
reach me, nothing but love can
change me or heal me.
Freedom is living life, being
in awe of His power, His goodness,
His Grace, His LOVE, His Mercy
and His Forgiveness.
Freedom is the ability to experience
joy and peace within
because of Him!





Oh Freedom

Freedom is preferred
It gives us opportunities and more choices.
We celebrate freedom
with all its inconsistencies
and complexities
freedom is not free, is not simple
it is not always equal, or just,
it does not always mean
peace or love, sometimes protector
then again oppressor
but freedom is respected
freedom is preferred.
It is a bold statement, a feeling
a state of mind, a collective agreement,
a sense of well-being and
pride in our stars and stripes
which makes us
want to dance, skip, or shout like children
at the burst and sight of our
pyrotechnic explosives in the sky on the 4th July .
Freedom is sometimes a privilege
Sometimes advantage
Freedom is preferred
Yes, we celebrate our freedom,
a concept borne out of good intention.


~Elizabeth P. Brooks



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