Over and over
the story goes
from beginning to end
from death to a rose
from arisen to fallen
from a hand to a wave
from a look through the window
a passerby gave

are you free?

from a keeper of sorrows
to a laugh among friends
by which comes the arrow
the messenger sends
when he's on his last dime
and he's down on his knees
wishing he could not
feel your disease

are you free?

from an old boat in brooklyn
to the waters below
from the joy of the preacher
as his garden grows
from a tumbler of whiskey
to the the weeds in the ditch
by a farmer bent down
adjusting his hitch

are you free?

from the way you went wrong once
by which you did right
from the morning that glittered
after a stormy night
from a calendar sent you
priority mail
hung in the basement
on a string by a nail
are you free?

from a flag in the lamplight
waving so high
to the face in a mask
behind an unseeing eye
from the halos of paper
for the saints on the bridge
to a dirty pink slip
on a window ledge

are you free?

from a boxer at dinner
who played in the band
to a boxer at midnight
taping his hand
from a shadow mistaken
for another man
in a dream once felt
where wild horses ran
from the stables of eden
to the gates of hell
just out front
by the wishing well

are you free?
are you free?
get free...