Nothingness.

I was reading something about slavery in an article in class and thought of this as I laid in bed unable to sleep the night before an important final test.

I stand below the wretched oak tree

And sigh a heavy breath as time passes by.

I am man, but I am nothing.

I am here, but soon gone.

I am bound, but soon free.

They grab and force me away

To the platform from which I will hang.

I am sentenced, but unpunished.

I am notched, but still breathing.

I am near the edge, but still far from death.

My captors urge me to the edge

And push me down towards a bright light.

I am gasping, but not in pain.

I am fading away, but becoming anew.

I am a slave, but now I am free.

My body is left to rot

But my soul takes flight.

I was bound, but now I am soaring.

I was a prisoner, but now I am liberated.

I was nothing, but now I am everything.