did you hear
Britney is free now
she uploaded her mind into the cloud
where she can live forever
Britney is free of the constraints
of being human
looks, weight, and gender
being made of icky cells
the need for self-improvement
and tax forms, leaking nudes
and decaying telomeres
Internet comments and
the decision whether to get
cryogenically preserved
not much freedom to be found
in a vat of liquid nitrogen
yet no one is free until we are all free
Britney won’t step into nirvana
until all sentient beings
are ready to go with her
one thing must be emphasized, however:
Britney does not have free will
it would be a terrible stochastic burden
to inflict on someone
she is free to make all the choices
she will inevitably make
free to be a cloud in the cloud
in the enormous virtual sky
waiting for the others
there’s no hurry
but it might take a while
About the Poem
The “Free Britney” campaign to liberate Britney Spears from her father’s oppressive conservatorship, which finally appears to have succeeded, made me ponder what freedom really means. I’m severely disabled and a Buddhist and the meaning of freedom is something I think about a lot.
About the Author
Maija Haavisto’s debut poetry collection Raskas vesi (Heavy Water) was published in Finland by Aviador in 2018, followed by Hopeatee (Silver Tea) in 2020 from Oppian. In English, her poetry has appeared in Cosmospen, Eye to the Telescope, Shoreline of Infinity, and Kaleidoscope.
This is a wonderful poem… didn’t even need Britney to be the focus, it’s simply, smoothly human and universal.
So happy you found me on that blasted Twitter and I looked at what you are up to. I never connect on this platform so it was a happy surprise.
Lovely poem. I will publish one on twitter, eventually.