The Cage

By Beverly Martin

I sensed this day would come

Said the stranger to the crow

To well and truly face my fear

Is what I must first do to let it go

So many years spent strangled

This way to exist I knew so well

An alliance with the darkness

It was almost comfortable there to dwell

So much time spent in silence

With words trapped deep inside

Unknowingly searching for the mystery

Afraid of death, afraid of life, unconsciously choosing to hide?

So many years spent sleeping

So unaware that I was not awake

Stuck in looping dreams and nightmares

Ironically. ignorant to what was at stake

My throat, it must now open

I must transmute fear to love

With.your black feather to remind me

I was below as you were above

You were always on my shoulder

A companion I had never seen

A whisper in the silence

A pillar for me to lean

You gave me the key to freedom

Said the familiar to the bird

As you spread your wings of forgiveness

I will speak up now and be heard