The Golden Cage

Looking out at the golden world
Through the golden bars
Of my golden cage
I see pasted against
Blue skies so free
Birds flying free
Clouds scudding free
The breeze rustling
Through treetops free
The sun riding the sky free
Night’s dark face
Sprinkled with stars free
The buzzing insect-creatures
Swarming around
My golden cage
Stick their sharp knives
Of freedom
Deep into my caged heart
Beating bleating screaming
To be free free free
Free of the golden cage
To breathe the air free
To spread my wings
And fly in the blue expanse
Darting gliding free
Through the scudding clouds
Winging dashing free
Over oceans mountains
Waving fronds
Singing songs sweet
Free free free

And then you look down
To the place
You’ll have to land
When tired grow the wings
When hunger captures the belly
To the place you’ll have to nest
When weary become your eyes
And you see
The fucking muck the fucking hunger
The fucking anger
The fucking need want dearth
The seething sweating louts
Caged in their fucking toil
The clods and the clowns
Fighting over scraps
Sleeping in their own crap
And you wonder
What’s the big flap
You’re making about
Your nice little trap
And you swiftly
Tuck the wings
Of your longings
In your perfumed armpits
And settle on your
Golden swing
In the sterile sanctuary of
Your golden cage
Waiting impatiently
For someone
To hurry the fuck up
With the fucking feed

-by Rita Putatunda