This free verse poem is about releasing the pressures of a working day. They can sometimes seem like a constant burden to some; trying to get free from any unwanted pressures. May I just add that this poem is meant for performance so please keep this in mind when you read, thanks.
Pressure
Stomp, Stomp,
the pounding of the workers’ march
almost mechanical, the robotics of humanity.
Left, Right
Left, Right
marching for a purpose,
escaping the employer’s maze
workers remain within its grasp,
stomping left, right,
living with squares, direction with straight lines
No.
Turn three sixty
changes are possible,
pressure sneers in my ear
no escape in my maze,
pushing boundaries, an opening appears.
a light beyond sights reach,
backwards to get forwards
pressure amuses itself,
pounding turns to running
the employer begins to quake, succumbing to my force
I am free.
gone is the maze
golden rays melt away the rusty armour,
the soul begins to breathe.
fresh air encased within my lungs
the time bomb has stopped,
nothing but the waves flowing
in and out,
in and out,the mind at ease,
not a memory lost, not a thought disrupted
pressure has retreated.
Charlotte Anne Barker 