Look carefully now <br />Inside your own head <br />Look and you'll find <br />The shackles of your mind <br /> <br />Each word you've borrowed <br />Each thought you've read <br />Is a link in the invisible chains <br />That bond and hobble your brains <br /> <br />Those words are the easy way out <br />Each time that you're plagued by doubt <br />You let someone else's morals decide <br />And forget how to take your own side <br /> <br />But what can you do <br />Oh, what can you do <br />It's so easy to not be you <br />To just live your life by the rules <br />To be a part of this or that school <br /> <br />The formulas of fear that you spout <br />Instead of working things out <br />Are a much easier way to go <br />It's easier to stay stunted than grow <br /> <br />But those chains are so tiny, so frail <br />If you just examine them in detail <br />You can snip them with almost any thought <br />That your own mind has forged and wrought <br /> <br />So if you actually start to think <br />Be honest with your heart and head <br />And not fall back on easy things <br />On the words and thoughts that you've been fed <br /> <br />To your own surprise <br />You might just find <br />You've slipped the shackles of your mind.<br /><br />Anand Vijaykumar<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-shackles-of-your-mind/
