I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

 

		I KNOW what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals — I know what the caged bird feels! I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting — I know why he beats his wing! I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,— When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings — I know why the caged bird sings!        Paul Laurence Dunbar
	"I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" is a very good book by Maya Angelou but did you know that it was inspired by this excellent poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar?  If you click on his name above, that will take you to a website that has several of his poems listed along with his biography. I find his connection with the Wright Brothers fascinating . It appeals to me that this poet wrote of the love of freedom through birds and the Wright Brothers pioneered the freedom to fly that we enjoy today. Our cherry trees are in full bloom just now and this photo with the cardinal was taken yesterday in our own front yard!  My header photo was the sunrise from this morning with the cherry tree in the foreground, also in our front yard. (You might recognize the pine trees from past sunrises.) With all the rain that we have had, the cherry trees are their finest...frilly and light pink, just beautiful.    RICHARD TOOK THE PHOTOS, OF COURSE!!  :-)   The poem is really about freedom and besides thinking of the poet I am also thinking of Col Ben Purcell and Ryan Ferguson,  men that I have written about before.

Love And Freedom post    Ryan Ferguson post       Click on those and read them if you can and maybe you will see why I am reminded of those posts.