The Caged Bird
I argued with my mother for a full hour
& finally, got the approval.
I felt happy for the poor caged bird
who was finally getting its freedom's license renewal.
I assured the canary freedom the next morning
& departed to bed.
It had been pathetic wondering about the caged creature,
its life, worse than being dead.
I closed my eyes
& ventured through my dreamy dreams.
Even the little canary paid me a visit
& she went with something like this:-
"" Please don't let me go,
don't make me leave this cage.
I haven't lived in that harsh world,
am not used to their merciless ways.
I don't have an oily tongue,
neither do I back-stab mates.
I don't harm people as a way of life,
never have I used my colleagues as bates.
I don't believe in pomp & show
& live a strict & pious life.
How would I survive in that artificial world
with everything fake except greed & knives.
I have shed my diplomacy
& worked with the tools of resurrection.
How can I belong to a world
that's eager on forgery & destruction ?
Let me be in that cage,
where freedom has been traded with peace.
Don't make me swim to the coast of greed,
am happy with my bread, don't offer me cheese. ""
My eyes opened wide
& I returned to the real world.
Sweat was pouring off my forehead,
the little canary had let me worried & befuddled.
I dashed outside my bed
& rushed to the poor bird.
But perhaps it was too late,
the canary laid still with its eyes shut.
My head went into a dizzy
& the mind felt strangulated.
But perhaps, in the end,
the little bird had said it all.....
