Featured Poem: Bird in a Cage

 

By Jennifer Santana
Iowa City Branch

 

a bird in a cage

is a pretty thing to look at

 

fragile and small

fluttering here and there with quick bursts of energy

 

or sometimes sitting very still

gazing out beyond

those

golden

glistening

bars

 

the ones that promise protection

from a big unsafe world

in exchange

for one bird

soul

 

and I think of how the bird will live a while

fed

watered

sheltered

but still and always longing

to do that which she was perfectly designed

to do

 

and I wonder if she spends those still moments

in pain

buried in her feathers

trying with all her might

to pacify the place

where her bird soul

must have been

soaring through the sky

eternally existing

among clouds of white

 

but how

I wonder

can a bird who was born to fly

do anything

but die

 

eventually

 

fed

watered

sheltered

 

forever flightless

 

but still

 

a pretty thing to look at

 

 

6 comments

  1. Donna Puglisi says:

    True! If you love something, set it free! Remember the song, “White Bird”! Thank you for sharing your wonderful poem!

  2. Barb Whitmarsh NLAPW says:

    THIS POEM TUGS AT THE HEART STRINGS.
    IT IS VERY WELL WRITTEN, VERY MOVING
    I’D SAY AMONG THE VERY BEST I’VE READ
    IN A LONG LONG TIME.

  3. I feel the same way any time I see a bird in a cage. Jennifer Santana has expressed the
    thoughts many of us experience but seldom mention. Her poem is wonderful.

  4. Ione Walker says:

    A very wonderful poem and don’t we all feel that way sometimes with our busy lives! Food for thought.

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