Untitled (Caged Bird)
By MS
Caged bird…Caged bird,
Why do you STILL sing?
Seemingly… Wings clipped,
Does that make the melody that you sing all the more sweeter?
Loneliness as your constant companion,
Do you sing your want… Your dreams of the winds updrafts, the Sun, the Sky, and the Clouds at your back, with your Heart beating strongly…
Does your overtures remember the rhyme of being free?
Soaring on Forgotten Wings,
Wings clipped…. seemingly,
Perched in a Gilded Cage,
I ask….
Caged bird…..Caged bird…..
Why do you STILL sing?
(Is the tune that you sing for me….
or is it the one that I have always heard deep within me?)
Note: I had the great MAYA ANGELOU in mind when I wrote this.
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I really enjoyed reading this poem. It is filled with so much emotion and it tells a story deeper than the words written. To me it tells a story of continuing on even when you’re stuck in place and not letting your current circumstances stand in the way of your dreams and aspirations. I thought it was beautifully written. I wish you all the best!
I think the great Maya Angelou would be flattered to hear that you had her in mind when you wrote this and also gratified to know that you can be inspired by poetry. May you be blessed as you go forward in life — hopefully with many opportunities to share your inspiration.
This piece is very emotionally charged and I LOVE the allusion you used with the caged bird in reference to Maya Angelou’s work. You made excellent use of the visuals associated with being free, contrasted with the suffocating feeling of being trapped. The hopeful tone at the end was a very pleasant surprise, and I loved seeing the meaning associated with the song that the bird sings being flipped over.
The word ‘still’ in your poem really resonated with me. I think the fact that despite the bird being in a difficult place, it still manages to sing is a powerful phrase. Oftentimes, people give up when faced with hardships. However, the bird managed to continue singing despite its pain. I also really loved the strength the bird has throughout the poem. Despite its clipped wings and caged body, the bird manages to soar high and sing a beautiful melody.
I’d say the caged bird still sings because it knows that freedom is inevitable no matter how far away it seems. I love your use of metaphors here, and while I may not have read any of Maya Angelou’s stuff, I can still appreciate the poem I have in front of me.
I like the usage of ellipses as well as the all-capitalized words; it really adds to that inquisitive tone felt throughout the poem. The words within the parenthesis also show how the subject of the poem has come to a conclusion or realization, demonstrating their character development.
MS,
Your poem is very thought provoking. The idea that loneliness and adversity enhances one’s artistic ability is fascinating, and how one’s desire for freedom can be expressed through song. Additionally, the pacing felt very natural, and was very well written.
Put a bird in a cage. It doesn’t change what the bird inherently is. Put us in a cage. It doesn’t change who we inherently are. Birds still sing as caged birds and are no different than non-caged birds. Birds still yearn for freedom, all want to love and to be loved, all want joy and friendships and everything good in life, all have emotions, all have memories, all have a soul, and all have a life and want a life.
This is a beautiful poem! Continue to foster your creativity. I truly enjoyed reading your art.
Your poignant words echo the spirit of Maya Angelou, capturing the essence of resilience and the indomitable will to sing despite the constraints of life. The metaphor of the caged bird, a powerful symbol of freedom and aspiration, speaks volumes. Your verses beautifully explore the paradox of a bird with clipped wings, yet a song that rings with sweet melodies. The introspective questioning, whether the tune is external or an echo from within, adds depth and contemplation. Your writing is a heartfelt homage to Maya Angelou’s legacy, embodying her spirit of strength and determination. Well done.
Imagery was used wonderfully in this piece. The descriptive words are wonderful and really paints a picture in my mind of what the writer is trying to get across. Maybe the reference they are trying to get across is that they are in a cage wanting to be set free from all around them.
Hi MS,
What a great poem! It is a great analogy about freedom in all forms. I imagine in your case it speaks louder to how you are feeling where you are. And I hope dearly that the bird’s song represents the hope you are holding onto and the memories that keep your spirit uplifted.
It is a wild concept when you relate it to the average person’s life where we are “caged” by what society deems acceptable. For instance the person who works their life away and barely has time for things that bring joy because we are conditioned to think that is normal. We all sit here knowing that the enjoyment of life is continually sinking because we work it away, then sleep in our free time to try and escape for a bit, from a reality that is heavy to carry. Heck, you could go as far as saying we are caged by social standards for how we should act and look as well. There are thousands of people who feel this pressure to conform and not be themselves, it’s a cage in a totally different form. So when we all sing out, it’s a great question; are we singing for the things we want or need to be happy? Or are we singing for what we lost when we decided to become conforming members of society?
Thank you for sharing. This one really had me thinking!
I love the spin on a true classic! I really enjoy how the poem was changed into your own perspective, and I especially liked how it was changed into, “caged bird… caged bird, why do you STILL sing?” Rewriting a classic to show that time has passed, but it still applies today. Continuing with the same theme as the original and adding more elements, modernizing the poem but keeping the message made for a great poem. I really enjoyed reading this, keep going!
I appreciate your adaptation of Maya’s poem. You have taken poetry that resonates and made it even more personal. The punctuation gives me pause to the important message you are trying to share. Feeling trapped and physically being trapped (and experiencing both) I imagine conjures a great loneliness that is personally unimaginable. Using a bird as a symbol which regularly represents freedom and by figuratively taking away its only means of true freedom makes for impactful imagery. Thank you for sharing your struggle.
This poem is written in a way where you can feel every single thing the author is trying to say. The author is truly talented and I really hope to get more of their work. This poem is so relatable in a way that you wouldn’t realize at first. The author makes it really easy to relate to the pool as well. It’s beautifully written and is told in a way that you just understand what they’re trying to say. This person is a great writer and this poem is really inspirational.
This poem beautifully captures the indomitable spirit of these caged birds, revealing their capacity to find joy and resilience in the most challenging of circumstances. It serves as a powerful reminder that even in captivity, the song of the soul can soar, echoing the timeless human longing for freedom and self-expression
I love this poem and its message about the experience of incarceration. Keep your head up!
This is a lovely poem! I loved the comparison of the bird and freedom. It was so interesting to think about why a caged bird would still sing. Since a caged bird can’t live its life how a bird is supposed to live, you would certainly think he would not want to sing. This made me think about making the best of bad situations. Although the bird cannot fly wherever he pleases, he still sings. This is such a great metaphor for hardships we may encounter.
I loved this poem, I thought it was very passionate and sincere. The use of the bird greats a great picture, and tells us a truly beautiful story. The emotion here is strong, and it really resonated with me. The last two lines of the poem were my favorite “caged bird… caged bird… why do you still sing”. This poem is truly beautiful, and I hope to read more of your work!
You did so well to create your own spin off of the thoughts of the great Maya Angelou. This is such a good representation of finding peace and contentment even in tough, difficult situations. I am so impressed by the strength and perseverance this poem embodies. I think you did a beautiful job.
Warmly,
Molly
Dear MS, I love that the beautiful bird you wrote so vividly of still sings. In my mind this beautiful bird is brilliant gold and deep blue. Your poem reminds me that hope is persistent and it carries us through the most difficult times. Your poem also reminds me that the opportunity to express ourselves and be creative is an essential part of being human. Thank you for reminding me to stop and take a moment to create. Sending you vibes of peace.
I really like this poem because it shows how even in dire circumstances we can still be ourselves and express our feelings. The why do you still sing part really sticks out to me as it shows how the bird is still persistent despite not being free. The themes of freedom and resilence can clearly be seen in this poem and the writer does a great job with the metaphor between the bird and freedom.
I love that even though it’s called untitled it’s still titled Caged Bird. I love the line “Does your overtures remember the rhyme of being free?” That’s my favorite line in the whole poem cause it just speaks so well to everything that you feel throughout the poem. I feel like you’re trying to remember being free and what it would be like to be free once again. Keep it up.
This poem made me feel good. The bird making and finding happiness in a situation that may not be ideal, and then the outsider questioning why I feel is society a lot of times. This poem is very inspiring to make something good out of something bad.
Hi MS,
Wow! Where do I begin? There are so many gorgeous lines in this poem. “Caged bird…Caged bird,/
Why do you STILL sing?”; “Seemingly… Wings clipped,/Does that make the melody that you sing all the more sweeter?”; “Does your overtures remember the rhyme of being free?” all speak to the power to overcome that lives within each of us, the ability for each of us to find our own song (whatever that may be) and use it for nurturing—because sometimes, that’s all we have. The final two lines are so incredible that I must’ve reread them 10 times. I think the song you hear is the one you have always heard inside of you, and that can never be taken from you.
Dear MS,
This poem is beautiful and after I did research on the poem that this one was based off of. I can see the essence of Maya Angelou in this poem. This poem makes me think of what it truly means to be free and really spoke to me with this question you asked as I feel I often ask what defines freedom, the physical person or their mind? As mentioned in your poem, the bird “seemingly” had its wings clipped. This choice of words, “seemingly” truly made me think that maybe its wings may be cut and it will never have the same freedom of flying it did before it was put into this cage. But yet, maybe it found a different sort of freedom with its song. The last lines also spoke to me, asking if the bird is singing a new tune, or if it is one that was forgotten long ago only to be rediscovered, almost asking the question if the bird has always had this freedom to sing with it or if it only truly discovered it now that it has been trapped.
Thank you for sharing your poem,
IN
This poem almost feels nostalgic to me almost as one does when they’re reminiscing on the old days. I can almost imagine an elderly person thinking about this poem and imagining their glory days. On the other hand it also felt like I was reading someone’s mentally. The part where you wrote “Seemingly…Wings clipped” made me think it’s all about perspective. While those wings might not actually be clipped sometimes the mental destress that people experience cannery much make you feel that way. This is a very thought provoking poem.
MS,
“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” is by far one of my favorite poems, so when I noticed that you had created a response I was immediately intrigued. Your reply was absolutely phenomenal. The lyricism that you created drew me in, and made the poem feel really personal to you. I also found the questions you presented quite thought provoking, and prompted me to think back to when I first read the poem and shared similar queries. Also, I thought that the subtly hopeful inner thought at the end was really moving. Incredible job.
I could tell you had Maya in mind while you wrote this. She would be DELIGHTED and HONORED to read it. Well done!
I love everything about this poem! I love how it starts and ends with a question, and I love how much emotion I can feel from this! This poem has a lot of meaning behind it, and It made me happy to hear that you had Maya in mind while reading this, I’m sure she would feel just as astonished as I felt while reading this especially since you were inspired by her. I also love the imagery brought through this poem with wondering how the caged bird still sings. It seems as though the bird would have no reason left to sing, but it’s still strong enough to keep having hope, which is beautifully put. I appreciate you sharing this piece with everyone, and if this is your passion, keep going! I enjoyed reading your work and I’d love to see more.
I am in love with this poem! It offers such a relatable perspective on struggles while also being super inspiring and meaningful. It mirrors conscious thought so much–I felt like I was there while you were thinking all of these thoughts. The “STILL” itself speaks so loudly and the themes of freedom and liberation were interweaved into the poem amazingly. I think that if everyone read this poem, they’d relate and understand it completely, which is a difficult task to achieve, yet you did. Really good!!!
This is an amazing poem. I like your comparison of the bird and freedom. It is very well written.