Sticking Out The Tongue

I have leapt
from a narrow window
in high walls
which have long blocked out
the warmth of the sun
and now I swim slowly
in warm water,
feel the touch of smooth liquid
soft against my skin -
almost a caress
after so long
in a hard darkness
of drought, of desperation.

The oppression
is now a vastness
of light and air,
a delight
in being alive
and I stretch up
my hand and breathe deep
and give them
a sign

as the droplets fall back
into my body,
but this water,
despite its power,
could never
extinguish the fire
that they very nearly smothered.

Today I got out alive.

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