for I sit in the dark 

searching the spark 

for the woman I worked so hard to be

for the woman who started to feel free 

she had a taste of freedom 

what it was like to be her own 

she cried in peace, with no one to please

danced through the floors as she was blown

from music of those and her own

a square footage of peace 

that always put her mind at ease 

with a new list of responsibilities 

that still, never hid any possibilities 

I grieve for the woman I worked so hard to be

signed a letter of condolence to no addressee 

I know she is somewhere near

waiting for the all clear 

to come out once again 

with no abstain

and no refrain

free from pain 

-C.L