Flash Back: You are Called

You are called by the gentle tugging at your sternum

as if your heart will leap from it’s cage and dance with excitement

Your lips parted your cheeks flushed dazed and breathless with longing

for life and all it’s potent, intoxicating fire

you follow that invisible thread hooked in your rib cage

through brambles and ravines

through back alleys you were warned away from

that smell like piss and suffering

and you are scared sometimes

and angry

but always underneath joy is pulsing

and cheering you on

until you stop longing for a reprieve

realizing there is no paradise

only freedom