A Free Bird

mrymntcpw
Jul 27, 2025
2 min read

One of the great joys of summer at Merry Mount is watching the swallows glide across the pasture as we mow on the zero-turn, or as we sit observing at eventide. Yet another joy is listening to our canary, Ozzie, as he sings from his cage on the sun porch.

It is our perception that these feathered friends are performing for our enjoyment, but perhaps the swallows would like to take a rest in the cage, or perhaps our canary would enjoy being freed to fly the open fields in search of food. We will never know, some things are outside our realm of understanding.

But, what do we know? Are our perceptions grounded in truth or are we slaves to our own implicit biases?

It seems that our brains are genetically programmed to instantaneously provide us with information based upon genetically coded experience along with recently experiential data, but, if engaged, the reasoning area of the brain can override implicit bias. Thus, it behooves us to hesitate, engage our reasoning abilities, listen carefully, evaluate, and then decide whether to offer an opinion. Then perhaps we can claim to be free and can fly and sing with abandon.

Let’s examine Maya Angelou's great poem, Caged Bird:

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wing

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 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.

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