Free me, free me, free me now

One day you came
A neighbor, a stranger,
a guest,
Maybe a friend
I didn't know you.

I opened my home and
I opened my hearth

I was innocent, I was kind
I was unprepared and
Maybe I was blind
I was alone..

Bound, ravaged and
Pillaged, now I lie
You had your way
Cut me off, changed my name
And called me yours

my lover,
Bruised and banished
A distant memory
wanders every night
In my dreams

My gods and my faith,
everything I believed in
Ransacked or destroyed
scattered in disarray

I am surrounded
By you and yours
You dress me up
And show me off
Another possession
A bauble to display
You are my king
And I am your slave

But I remain.

Underneath it all,
I still belong to him.
I thirst and I ache
For his touch and
His caress
His ways and his
adulation

I sit and I wait
My time will come
And my lover will return

You can take me,
You can break me,
You can ravage me and
Parade me,
Color me yellow and
brand me
But you can't change me
I am what I am.

I am... Tibet

I am alive.
Try as you might
I won't die
I am forever,
You can't take me down.

Free me now.

Anand Saraf - July 2010