We are built like horses,
Strong, free and stubborn,
Our manes meant to feel the wind
But we were not born as such
We do not live with tenderness or freedom
Because we were born into bondage
Unto fingers cold to the touch
Every step is planned
Every stray is punished
In a land ruled by the likes of injustice
Where lies spread like fires to an open plain
Speech is not free
Every word has a price
And we are afraid to speak
For our words are their scripts
We are not us
But those that they want us to be
Shackled by the atrocities of their rule
Under an oath to be their servants
So, I say, they must be cast away
Replaced with those true in heart
Overrun by those with knowledge and goodness
So that they may be realized as the monsters they are
When we finally open our eyes
The people will be free
Our ignorance will fade
And the sun will shine again
We are built like horses,
Strong, free, and stubborn
Truly free at last, horses we can be
By Alex, 8th Grade
Click the link above to listen to the poem read on KPFT radio by Clara Marsh, an 8th grader at Johnston Middle School For the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston.
This poem is featured as part of the 2013 A Poem a Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by Writers in the Schools (WITS) that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click here to learn more.
Special thanks to Susan Phillips, an independent radio producer in Houston, who recorded and produced all the poems for the WITS A Poem a Day campaign.