Valerie Blades Poet Free verse

Transgressions

to be or not to be
to live or to die 
the thick coat of my transgression conclaves within me
what if all I am is what I’ve done? 
All I speak, act, and experience 
what if all I am is nothing more than a vessel 
a lesson to be learned
A body to be craved 
A complex tapestry woven within threads of identity action and perception 
you take your foot off my throat for just a second 
just enough to allow me to come up for air 
Delving into the core of what it means to be human

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Alison A Smith September 15, 2026 at 3:49 AM A raw, philosophically charged free-verse poem that confronts guilt, identity, and survival without flinching. The movement from Shakespearean existential questioning into the visceral image of a foot lifted briefly from the throat creates powerful tension, while the final turn toward human complexity gives the piece real emotional weight.