The Great Escape

by Isabel Kestner

There is no prison bar
so strong as what your
father taught you,
told you, ingrained
in your mind. There is no
fortress less escapable
than what your mother
misled you to believe
and beat into your heart.
The land is an evil barren
prison you can only work,
work and work in for nothing.
There is no crime, no punished
with such suffering as this.
But somewhere, hidden in
the deepest untouchable
safe hold of the soul
there is a key that unlocks
this latitude of lies and
lets you escape to the
wide open wondrous
world outside. And that
world is waiting for your
arrival with open arms,
arms wider than your
wildest imagination
all waiting to embrace you
once you make your escape.
Go and find your key.
The world is waiting for you.


*Isabel Kestner's poems have appeared in numerous publications since the age of seventeen. Her first collection of poetry, Strange Things She Heard, was released in December 2009.