Freedom In the City.

Freedom In the City

The lights from the glow of the city streets

Beckoned me from my window.

I was a Scottish woman, driven to America by hate

And greed, and this was the first time I felt a little

Thrill of excitement at being on my own.

I had just arrived to Columbus, Ohio, the night before

From Scotland-having nothing with me but a garbage

Bag full of old clothes and food I needed to take

With me.

I wasn’t looking for anything but freedom, which was

Rare in those days, rare in the way that women weren’t

Really supposed to have any freedom, that my parents

Just wanted me to marry someone I wasn’t really in love

With, an older man with a degree in Engineering and who

Slept too much and drank too much and wanted me to cook

And clean.

I didn’t want to live a life like that.  I wanted to live a life

Making my own decisions and doing my own thing, marrying

Who I wanted and taking any job I please-anything but a

Homemaker, I thought, as was the style at the time for young

Women exactly like me.

Most women weren’t like me at all, I was a red head out of so many

Brown heads, a duck in a meadow full of swans.

I even walked like a duck, but I didn’t talk like a duck, I had an

Extensive vocabulary that my mother didn’t much like-she was brought

Up to be a homemaker and not focus on schooling, which was

What I was doing.

I moved to get away from her, to be able to think and do as I please,

And to find my own light in a world full of darkness.

The city lights beckoned me and I jumped out of the window of my

Apartment and climbed down the ladder, and wandered about

The city until I found a place to belong to.  Which is really what

We’re all trying to do, isn’t it?