Freedom Caged

Caged Freedom

There are limits in life. Sometimes they feel like cages. There is an irony to me that the winged symbol of freedom is not only endangered, but in cages and fences across the nation for us to view.

Maybe personal freedom is endangered and caged. I am not talking about the political stuff, I am talking about the freedom to be ourselves and pursue our dreams.

We live in expectations and judgement and so many other boundaries that limit us and endanger us and restrict us from soaring.

Our focus is all too often on the cage and not the proud bird that we are wanting to soar.

At the moment, if I am being honest, I am not in a head space that I can express my thoughts well. I have screwed something up and I am dealing with that reality. Some days are like that. I will close with Maya Angelou's wonderful poem. Before I do, I will say this. If the cage is of your own making, tear it down and soar. If the cage is made by others, they were wrong to do that to you. Sing your song of freedom and never be less than you. You are beautiful and worth it.

Caged Bird

BY MAYA ANGELOU

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou, “Caged Bird” from Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? Copyright © 1983 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994)