Independence

Sputtering, coughing in its sconce
The drip of wax on the old chiffon
Duskily flickers over a dusty page
Scrawled with youth, and soiled with age. 
A pair of eyes, dimly lit
Over faded words weary flit
Meticulous fingers trace each line
Whilst the lowly kindred slept supine.
The candle’s glow softly outlined
The curve of cheekbones defined
A stubborn chin, with fervent fires
The sort of ardor that inspires
Into the mind a firm dictation
To bloom with time in dedication.
A pen betwixt her calloused fingers
Scribing as midnight lingers
Ciphered when starlight fades
Read beneath nocturnal shades.
Every dreary hour spent
Dredging for ambition’s rent
Earned her scorn and scowling spite
But she, too weary to put up a fight,
Continued with her nightly hours
Dreaming beyond confining powers.
The kindred grimaced at her books
Lamenting her fading looks
‘No one will take her in this state
I say, this nonsense must abate!’
They threw away her precious stores
Piled up her list of chores
Only discussed the wedded maids
Lavishing upon them every praise.
Still, despite the prison cage
Like Dantes she befriends a sage
Who recognized the same regime
Whose penalty her own crushed dreams.
Books passed between their hands
In a shared gaze she understands.
Early mornings come and go
The seeds she planted start to grow
From the first bench of her class
To scholarships pouring in en masse.
Sponsors willing to shake her hand
If only the kindred could understand.
Their glares confirmed her greatest fears
She beseeched them with her broken tears
Nothing could move their schemes of stone
Reproof and rebuke in which she was born.
She knew the offers would never last
Her heart beat with anger unsurpassed
Whilst for her dreams she worked and cried
The kindred chose her path: a bride.
The hours ticked by, no time to waste
After all the work for the dreams she chased
No disapproving kin and wedding gowns
Would stop her from leaving now.
Whilst they slept she crept within to flee
Pried open a vault with a pilfered key
Prayed for clemency at the rusted gate
Hoping one day they’d understand too late.
With a broken heart and solemn face
The ticket in hand, her eyes she braced
To keep inside what she struggled for
To suppress the tears at the disappearing shore.