Solitude
A poem by Virginia McKenna, from the Born Free Foundation Anniversary Collection.
I am in my room, alone.
Time is nothing.
The silence and its stillness pleases me.
I can keep this solitude
Without question,
Until the need to end it pleases me.
In his small cage, alone,
Time is nothing.
His silence is within, inside his brain.
He keeps this inward silence
To protect him
From eyes that do not understand his pain.
I keep him in this cage
My primate brother,
I keep him on display for all to see.
I must be sure that he knows
Who is master,
That in my hand, alone, lies freedom’s key.