Growing up I so loved the lions,
wanting to be Joy Adamson.

Later, taken with Karen Blixen
and her journey to and then out of

Africa, I plastered my bedroom
walls with my own dreams of travelling

to see the elephants and rhinos
but mostly to stand among the lions

And, in the way I saw it then, 
to be free. But life led me instead

To France, though I tried to avoid it
at all costs. I found myself when I

Got lost in all the beauty and learned
how life brings us full circle in time

When we let go and let God lead us
to a bigger dream. And now it seems

The curtain closes, will soon open—
to what I do not know. Let there be

peace and freedom... and remembrance
that we are each, every one of us,

Created free, born free, meant to live
free. As for me, I will fly free and

Only fly for freedom.