If Only I Dare (Poetry)

Tonight is the night
I slip from my chains
and risk everything
while some hope remains
there’s freedom out there

My gaoler snores loud
drugged deep in his sleep
out cold on the floor
right past him I creep
to find fresher air

Full moon — there’s a frost
that shimmers on stone
and crisps the new leaf
so recently grown
the dirt road shows bare

I steal a rough coat
a biscuit, a gun
grab what I might need
for life on the run
in haste I prepare

to face the unknown
the darkness that swarms
and threatens to drown
a braver day dawns
if only I dare