It is up to me

It is up to me to choose
Who I wish to be
It is up to me
To choose what I think
Is best for me
It is up to me
To choose whether
I prefer the fragrance of flowers
Or the tranquility of calm lagoons
It is up to me
To be that which I fit in best!

It is up to me
To shut off the loud din
Of society’s harsh glare upon me
As it saunters along to what is imposed upon it
While I can only care to dance upon the beats
Of my poetic whims!

It is up to me
To smile with my heart
At the poison that is hurled upon me
With the hope that it scorches me
To such an extent
That I come to a point where I fear it
And use it
To be that which I am not!

It is up to me
To stand up with my flag brandished high
Upon the mountains and the lowlands of
Our puzzling world
As
Everything about us all
Has not been given due explanations!

Yes,
It is up to me
To acknowledge of the rights
That pave themselves towards the glory
Of existing as I do
As if I don’t
I would be a mere paper
Yearning for when a pen
Would write upon my lines
A poem of human emancipation!

Anoucheka Gangabissoon is a Primary School Educator in Mauritius. She writes poetry and short stories as hobby. She considers writing to be the meaning of her life as she has always been influenced by all the great writers and wishes to be, like them, immortalized in her words. Her works can be read on poetrysoup.com and she had also appeared in various literary magazines like SETU, Different Truths, Dissident Voice, In Between Hangovers Press, WISH Press, Tuck’s Magazine, Blue Mountain Review, among others. She has also been published in Duane’s Poetree and also in two anthologies for the Immagine and Poesia group. Her poems are often placed in free online contests Read other articles by Anoucheka.