Inside Poetry & National Poetry Day

To celebrate National Poetry Day today, here is the last of our poems from Inside Time, specially selected for us by Rachel Billington. And why not think of a poem yourself #thinkofapoem

Still Free – Supplement Runner Up

From S Croucher – HMP Rye Hill

I’m sitting in the garden with the sun on my face
Bees buzzing around as if in a race
Butterflies flit from cabbage to sprout
Wasps, stings, at the ready, fly idly about

Above the pond, dragonflies hang
Waiting to pounce, like a hard street gang
Flowers and shrubs, dance in the breeze
Bending and bowing, petals clinging with ease
Colours strewn wildly like Picasso gone mad
Or shots from a paintball by an unruly lad

The light starts to fade now
The colours turn grey
The insects in flight now call it a day
Just cream and blue, no sun on my face
My eyes strain to open, I’m still in this place

It was only a dream of days gone past
With the chill of my cell, it never could last
But as long as I can drift from the horror I’m in
As long as there are memories of where I’ve been
Then no door can keep me forever locked down
No walls can, for always, etch my face with a frown

As long as there are thoughts that dwell in my head
As long as imagination survives till I’m dead
Then it just doesn’t matter when they turn
The lock with a key
Because as long as I can think then
I’ll always be free