all caged out
An outdoor birdcage shortchanging flight.
Chicken wire bars pretending to keep the sky out of sight.
A dog runs up to you with a stick in his mouth.
Why does he return when all the birds are flying south?
Daily train shooting for the fortieth floor.
Chicken wire with a bird cage door.
Forgot to close it, in the evening, just one time.
Started out with eight birds and in the morning there were nine.
It’s not easy out there, it ain’t easy in here either.
Sometimes you just need, just need to take a breather.
Flight paths can be messy, landings precarious.
Not all of life’s punch lines strike you as hilarious.
Lots of years sitting in the cage, lots of stuff too.
It’s too stuffy no matter how much air blows through.
It’s hard to breathe when birds become a ground crew.
And it’s hard to grieve when you don’t know for who.