Tied

I want so much to be poetic --
For succinct profundities to purge
themselves from pen to paper.

Yet I'm tied
To too many rules
To freely let my spirit dance and sing and
play across the page.

Constrained by the unspoken criticism
I'm sure awaits me,
I avoid the jeers of my peers,
Keeping to the lines and borders
Never nearing freedom
Forever taunted by benign bullies
of my own making.