September 29, 2010

i know why the caged bird sings---by Maya Angelou


The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
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 fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and its tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an 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

8 comments:

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan said...

thats some deep stuff again... u never fail to surprise me..

Tweety said...

sigh...its wonderful poem :)

Anonymous said...

Hello Pri!

The poem is superb and so are all the writings of Maya Angelou which I've read.

Now, going back to your preface, I must confess I'm one of those regular visitors who doesn't leave a word, and I'm not commenting know cause you'll take his leash off ^_^

To tell you the truth, I love reading you.
I'm Portuguese and recently set for my CPE exam which fortunately passed with flying colours.
I read English books pretty often, but also enjoy reading small articles, novels, post (good ones) such as yours.

Thanks for that.
Keep on the good work.
I promise to say hello once in a while.

Maria Ferreira

Pri said...

@ all
sorry for the late reply..i really dont know how i missed out on these comments.

Pri said...

@ pythoroshan
hmmm...left handed compliment, eh? :-|

Pri said...

@ tweety
its one of my favs...i love Maya Angelou and her work :)

Pri said...

@ maria
thanks dear...that sure means a lot to me :)
do keep visiting and dropping in a hello---its a pleasure to have you around.

Timsrgi said...

sigh...its wonderful poem :)