Escape

Forgive my long absence.
I have been held hostage, wrists
chafed and limbs withered,
so long
until
one
day
his attention wavered, his delusions
shifted and I fell
outside his peripheral view,
and
slithered
as silent
and fast as I could, a snake
tasting the air blindly
with each flick of pink tongue,
on a desperate search
for home. Now, I think,
I am back, but muted;
concealed; my stripes hidden.
I don’t dare risk capture again.

Rachel Westfall
July 26, 2011