Are You Free?

If you must carry 

or own a gun 

or many

to be safe

In the land of the free

Home of the brave

Are you free?

Are you brave?

Maybe you are,

But probably not


Unless you live in a place

Where no one

has paid for

Your liberty --

Where protection 

is not a luxury, 

but a need for you 

and your family,

sometimes every waking moment

and countless nights 

without sleep --

Unless you need

Weapons to survive,

You are not brave

Or free.


But you, with your

Mighty God

Who surely is big enough,

Omniscient and Omnipotent,

(and clearly not impotent)

to protect you.

You seem rather

Lacking in trust

Of this Being

Who surely would not

Forget you

If you needed Him

In a moment

When it all came down

To choosing a weaopn

Or not


And speaking of God,

If there is One

or Many

to keep us safe

And only if they

Really care 

to listen to me

and everyone else

just the same,

I offer a prayer:

I fall to my knees

In submission to You

And beg that You

Discontinue

Allowing us to

Be so full of

Fear and hate.

Please teach us

How to be free.

If freedom is real,

how do we find it,

without having to

Win it,

Possess it,

or fight for it?



If being free

is possible,

teach us to 

Understand that

Having it is not 

Enough

Help us know

what it means

to Be it


If freedom is

something to own

like a gun

Then freedom 

is not

Free

-------------------------------------------------------------

Prayer, not included in the poem:

Grant us vision,

Wisdom to love

to Know

How to Care

For the world

And each other

Before We all

Die of Hatred

And Fear