Break away from: a phrasal verb

The first time I have learnt to identify
a phrasal verb was at the age of fifteen
I was a late-bloomer when it came
to a new language, leaving meaning to search me

for a nerve that could put to practice
what is learnt. This is a natural reaction
to the phrasal verbs marching in my head
i.e. the phrase to break away from

the desire to stay put and behind;
break, like become looser
like shirts that are wide enough for a body
that only wears cling-on tops

like freer, being higher in the sky
without needing wings, or feathers
a kind of explosive ripple of goodness
flowing onto your skin, like water

loose, could pave a way for loss
to cut out of the chords that tie you
together, become orphaned by
your own will and making;

a leap into a fit of refusal
a bout of nostalgia and bones
drowned by silence augmented
with fears idle tears

to break away from, to escape,
to be, to define, to learn to form,
to learn to mold, these are all strong
verbs with a tie only a free man can sever.