Caged Bird: A Meditation On Music

i kno-o-o-w why the caged bird sings 

after years of heart pounding

stomach churning

anxiety inducing

sleepless nights of betrayal and violence 

and destructive hands,

controlling,

forcing their silence

they searched within to remember how the sky felt when you joyfully soar with kin

i know why the caged bird sings

their song is a psalm of the strength it took

to relinquish the heavy weight, 

the brick,

laid upon their wings.

listen to them willing

into existence 

the desire to escape their cage

and sing the most beautiful songs God has ever allowed to be heard

i know why the caged bird sings 

at a tender age,  i’d gather and sit at their cage and listen to their beautiful song 

they shared with me:

song has allowed the caged bird to be free. 

i can’t lie, that’s stuck with me. 

 that’s why i sing

in the same note, key, and melody.