.

And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again? Archilochus

Friday, January 30, 2015

Now I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings...

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"

6 comments:

FreeThinke said...

I never hear the word "escape"
Without a quicker blood ––
A sudden agitation ––
A flying attitude.

I never hear of prisons broad
By soldiers battered down ––
But I tug –– childish –– at my bars
Only to fail again.


~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

FreeThinke said...

the music is interesting in an eerie, alienated sort of way.

I seem to hear echoes of the Kurt Weill who gave us The Threepenny Opera, and The City of Mahoganny.

Kurt Weill Meets Folk-Rock is the general impression.

FreeThinke said...

I may be unfashionable -- even unseemly -- for "conservatives" to admire Maya Angelou, but I do.
Hers was an authentic poet's voice.

It's ironic, however, that she who certainly favored most everything that emanated from the Left, seems to have missed awareness that the "free bird" whom she admires could well serve as an eloquent symbol for Conservatism, while the "caged bird," whom she pities makes a near-perfect stand-in for those trapped, weakened and hobbled by the blandishments of Welfare Statism.

Thersites said...

One can admire the good in any work. Even Marx.... if you can find it. ;)

Always On Watch said...

I'm with FT...Some of Maya Angelou's work is excellent.

Speedy G said...

I'm not disagreeing. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day.