Freedom
--William Stafford 

Freedom is not following a river.
Freedom is following a river,
................though, if you want to. 

It is deciding now by what happens now.
It is knowing that luck makes a difference.
No leader is free; no follower is free -
................the rest of us can often be free.
Most of the world are living by
creeds too odd, chancy, and habit-forming
................to be worth arguing about by reason. 

If you are oppressed, wake up about
four in the morning: most places,
you can usually be free some of the time
................if you wake up before other people.

[via whiskey river]

Demand It Courageously
--Julia Hartwig 

....Make some room for yourself, human animal.
....Even a dog jostles about on his master’s lap to
improve his position. And when he needs space he
runs forward, without paying attention to commands
or calls.
....If you didn’t manage to receive freedom as a gift,
demand it as courageously as bread and meat.
....Make some room for yourself, human pride and
dignity.
....The Czech writer Hrabal said:
....I have as much freedom as I take.

[via read a little poetry]