A Glimpse of Starlight

“I know why the caged bird sings,”

she says,

“of things unknown but longed for still —

of freedom.”

and I agree that this is true

for some

but that other caged birds sing for freedom

already found

for cannot freedom be found in the form

of chains?

could not the truest freedom come from

behind bars?

maybe manacles liberate like an open door

never can

so, yes, the caged bird sings

of freedom,

the freedom it could not find until it became a

caged bird

Note: Quotations from Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”.