A bird sits in a cage alone.

Wasting the time away with a tune too good for such a regular day.

Sitting patiently waiting for water and food.

A few crumbs given for survival.

Never knowing if that bowl will stay empty or not.

Trying to make enough sound to stay remembered.

***

The cage has no bars and never did.

They are not necessary to keep the bird in place.

Where would it go?

Its environment died a long time ago.

The only chance of life exists where it sits.

There is no way it could ever leave for there is no choice.

***

It never asked to live just to survive.

Those decisions existed long before it and the cage.

Consequences lasting long into the future.

Stronger than the missing iron.

Hated no less.

But never treated in kind.

***

The bird cannot continue to live just for surviving.

That is not what puts the shine in its feathers or the flutter in its wings.

Instead it focused on the song.

Making the missing hope itself.

Making the beauty missing in the world.

Making a song that is too good for such a regular day.