The Burden of Choice

I hope that next year brings changes

I hope next year you’re free of dangers

I hope next year you have only one burden

And that’s the burden of choice.

To choose to talk freely without fear of reprisals

To decide how to express yourself with no recrimination

To opt to travel by whatever means

To select your friends from the millions worldwide

To pick from a vast array of foods to feed your family

To have a desire that can be fulfilled

To want something small and be able to get it

To wish for peace and see the possibility

To favour freedom without facing hostility

To prefer to stay in your family home and not be in fear of eviction

To fancy all these choices as if they were a given

I make choices every day

I have that luxury

I elect to continue to be vocal

To determine outcomes I know to be right

I choose to do what I do

To have choices, you need freedom

That is my dream for you.