High Road Artist

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May 2, 2012 by Jeane George Weigel 2 Comments

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

This poem speaks so beautifully of desire. Most of us in this blog community are living outside of bars, but not all of us are free. I hope we each find the courage within to open our hearts and our minds to the freedom that is ours, if only we will take it.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns 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 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.

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.

Love to you all,
Jeane


More Related posts:

A Dream of Trees by Mary Oliver

Imagine by John Lennon

Starting Over

Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet: The Ninth Letter

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Comments

  1. Grace says

    May 2, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    This cage is of our own making…we ARE freedom we just don’t remember it.

    Reply
    • HighRoadArtist says

      May 2, 2012 at 5:23 pm

       Absolutely true.

      Reply

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About Me

About High Road Artist IMG 9461 150x150I am Jeane George Weigel, a working artist living in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and I do not think you and I are so different.

Every single one of us longs to know what we ache for, to “follow our bliss” as Joseph Campbell famously put it. You may find yours as an artist, a writer, or a teacher. But I am convinced we all yearn to live what is in our hearts. Some of us spend a lifetime discovering what that is. Some never find it.

This blog is about a journey of self-discovery, yours and mine. I write about the experience of living an artist’s life and share musings and photos as this living experiment unfolds. It is my hope you’ll join in the conversation by writing to me about your lives and I dearly hope something, here, will inspire you.

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