I would walk - hear the birds in the sunlight
Run with the wind in my face
I know that this will not happen
Because I have been put in my place

It is dark, darker than midnight
and my soul is yearning to fly
But my elders have told me
Bad girls will suffer and die

Oh and death is not a solution
For in Hell, burning rods wait me there
If I stray from the way set before me
by the men who say that they care

Can the world see my pain and my suffering
See the the cuts and the heartache I bear
and stand by, just nod and do nothing
While we are prisoners so near

From outside it must seem we're contented
for if we truly want this to end
we should rise and oppose our oppressor
even though they are also our friend

Who have power of life and death over us
their traditions in dark age myth
Radical thoughts face outwards
not into the dark place of our faith

They talk of an equal and just world
with freedom and safety again
This must be a lie we have swallowed
While we bow to the power of men.

Valerie Robertson

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