The Song Is Not Sad.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

he once was a wild bird
who lives in no one's forest
always in flight
to an endless journey, until

he was caught in the cage of
civilization
where he was taught to sing
and what to sing
and when to sing the
prescribed songs

he had always been a sad black bird
for years and years and years

until he gets freed because the lock is
finally broken and the rails all turn to dust
because of rust

when he goes outside with his wings
he does not like it anymore
he forgets what he was once in the wild
he comes back
constructs and reconstructs his cage
exactly as it was once
given to him by force of circumstance

locks himself in
and then begins to sing again

do not tell me that it did not happen to you

the song is not sad.