Walk
I walk straight.
Those in the past
who taught me
their twisted corkscrew way
full of demands
and the demons of guilt
was the only true path,
Like a too heavy pack
full of useless stuff
I shake off.
They promised happiness
but gave despair.
They said I was better
but not good enough.
I straighten my spine.
My face to the clouds,
I reach my hungry hands
to the clean heavens.
The singing voice
no longer silenced
sounds clear.
Without fear,
human, as I am,
I walk straight.
Becky Sirrine is a divorced mother of five and grandmother of five who lives with her partner Earl, and her dog Albert, in Mesa, Arizona. She has been writing poetry since April 2013, and has previously had poems published in Psaltery and Lyre and Exponent II.