Freedom Lost...

Originally, this was a picture prompted poem for the Project Write World competition.

An Englishman’s home is his castle
where he avoids any kind of hassle.
He speaks his mind without fear
while he drinks a pint of strong beer.

He has fought for so long.
A scourge to those who do wrong,
He now lives for the fight.
Free speech - his absolute right.

His words cannot offend,
Or to prison they will send.
No rights to air his views
or he'll end up on the news.

He stands with placard in hand,
The empty board looking quite bland.
With nothing left to protest,
He awaits his unjust arrest.

We live in sad times now.
And we must ask ourselves how?
When a man’s speech is no longer free.
We have lost all - our liberty.

Freestyle poetry. Each stanza is a quatrain and I follow an AABB rhyme scheme.