I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The free bird leaps on the back of the wind 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 his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom The free bird thinks of another breeze and 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. ___ Spend some time with this poem today. Consider where you see (or tend NOT to see) unfreedom in the world around you. Where are you aware of clipped wings and tied feet? Do you identify more with the caged or the free bird of Angelou's poem? Where are the unfree places in your own soul? In the souls of the people you interact with regularly? How does this description offer those places compassion? To witness both the bound-ness and the longing for unknown freedom? Where in the world, and in your life, do you long for freedom for the ones held captive in some way? What is it like to be the one soaring, perhaps unaware of the extent of your own freedom and privilege? How do you sense yourself responding? What might God be opening up in you? You may want to spend some time imaginatively entering into the experience of the free bird and the caged bird, in turn. See what comes up. Do you discover any sense of invitation for you, in sitting with this poem?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-02-17 14:51:42 UTC