Russell Hadaya

WE ARE ALL THE SAME

The warmth of the sun invigorates

the lively surroundings,

such as the waterfalls

forming into serene lagoons,

the endless valleys

coated with the greens of grass,

the rolling hills

teasing the wind which must

dart in and out of the slopes

created by the hills.

The animals bathe in

the warmth provided by the sun,

a platypus rolls in the sand,

fish glide through the lagoon

that the waterfalls have created.

All these events

that words cannot describe

are forbidden to those imprisoned by slavery.

Even the slaves that were born into slavery

know of freedom. The elders tell the young

about freedom and the life before slavery.

It gives them hope,

hope when there could possibly be none.

They dig down deep

to the worn thoughts

of life beyond the shackles.

The route to freedom

out of the prison of slavery

is to reveal the truth

that behind these coverings

which society puts upon us

we are all the same.