Eleutheromania, A Poem By Eddie Myles, Jr.

So many of my poems begin with my interest in a single word. I then take that word and try and figure out how it relates to something I’m feeling, have experienced or am otherwise interested in. I take the same approach to my tattoos which is why many of them are the result of, subject of or inspiration for my poems. This poem continues my fascination with the image and idea of the falcon and what it means in my life. The title is somewhat ironic but mostly a word I really like:

I often jump from airplanes, out over the ocean, down into the blue
Where fireflies don’t see me but brutal hunters often do

More than once, I’ve scaled a skyscraper and fallen with no parachute
My fall need not be broken, my life need no rescue

When I sleep, I dream of Africa, a time and land way back when
My nightmares are uneven but they’re shared by native men

I pray, folklore stay Aboriginal, wild, free and true
With honest eyes, we speak these words to native sons - and daughters too

So I go, and grow, insatiable - to feed my wanderlust
When days are long, I’m happy just to feel more dangerous

I sometimes walk a thousand miles, in a direction, known by few
I’ve climbed my share of mountains just to move beyond the glue

On my back, grant wings like falcons have, my hands be those of talons
So I may have a means and way, when my freedom hangs in the balance

I hate the talk of harmony, and peace, and all such banter
Opposition is sacred, like Thunderbird, and Underwater Panther

I am dazed, that I bleed this way, and that I have but one true aim
When destroyed, to finally be, free from all this pain