Some days I just need a bit of Maya to ground my soul. By Maya, I mean Maya Angelou, a woman who speaks through the many layers of her soul with her words and poetry. I have shared some of Maya’s poems before in The New Forty – on those days when Maya’s rich voice and throaty laugh have settled into my mind insisting I turn my attention to her and her words. In Maya, I see the ability humans possess to pause, reflect, and breathe. It isn’t quite as a natural a tendency as you might think it would be in our species, but Maya has it in every cell of her being. I think she is the quintessential old soul.
Today, I share another of her classic poems – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
By Maya Angelou
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh Maya, you are a rainbow in my cloud. Thank you for the blessings you bring. 
Day one thousand four hundred and thirty-three of the new forty – obla di obla da
Ms. C
