Why the Caged Bird Sings

It’s not because he wants to be free. He does want to be free. But that is not why the caged bird sings.
The caged bird sings because he is wired to sing, in captivity or in freedom. The caged bird sings because the songs of a caged swallow are better than the wails of a free eagle. The caged bird sings because singing is a matter of the heart not a matter of the place.

Pretty little bird in your dainty iron cage
Your brothers free in the air and free in the grave
You sang to me in your high pitched
soprano the soothing musicals of the Savannah
So there was none for backup
And you will waltz in tenor, baritone and alto
Simultaneous
Prodigiously.

It feels like home.

Spilt milk is already spilt. That is why ants and roaches can survive. If the caged bird can sing, can you not as well? The songs of the cage aren’t different from the songs of the wild. The caged bird has brought fresh and free to us the songs it took generations of his ancestors years to master their bridges. He has mastered the art of looking beyond the beautiful golden gate that protects him from Tom’s longing gaze. Prisons are really mind games. He sings because perhaps he is freer than you and me.