Declaration of Independence

Take your filthy strands of reasoning, shedding off-white from my hair. I claim this fistful of universe as my own. Let my mind expand and dance, unfettered in the fall -in glory- Let the rain cleanse my faith again as I sing to a god I know but have never understood. Let me brush quick-healing scars through the sky with my wrinkly fingers and leave barely-there imprints from where the balls of my feet embraced earth. This is me. I will not be patronized. I will not be underestimated. I will not be clapped shut. And I will not make my life a mockery. I will stand on my own until I find the place that makes sense to me.