there would be no cages

no traps, no snares

no pitfalls or spider's webs

to ambush and imprison

the songbirds

behind dead, iron bars

 

oh, we've adorned the rods with

gaudy bells and trinkets galore

but nothing can replace

the feeling of a gentle wind

and the day's light

gleaming through the leaves

 

there's a reason, we insist,

as we tigthen the knot

tying the anchor

to their spindly legs

to make them stay

to make them sing

 

we have stifled their voices

with the noose of the rope

we have wrapped around

their pretty little necks

 

and they no longer have

the breath

or the will

to sing

 

and they wilt.

 

no more cages.

no more traps, no more snares.

no more pitfalls or spider's webs

to ambush or imprison

the songbirds

anymore.