Sing Your Song

I know why the caged bird sings. The answer is pretty obvious, now that it has been pointed out to us. When we look at a situation like this whether it is metaphorically or literally, we can't help but see the truth in it. What else would you do, if you were a caged bird?
There are plenty of potentially caged birds who would say that they would never sing because they don't want to give their captors the satisfaction of sitting on a perch, behind bars, and acting like they had nothing but wide open space around them. Still other birds would insist that they would screech and squawk, making those who kept them in a cage regret that they had made such a foolish mistake. Then there are those birds who would say that they would sit in silence, not making any sound.
I know why the caged bird sings. Don't you? If you didn't sing, you would be denying what you are, locked up or not. If you screeched and squawked you would only give the cage more strength. Singing is freedom, even if it is from that perch inside a cage. Once you have made your song, you have a voice.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The irony of this quote from Maya Angelou is that I remember it. It was part of her song. She gave the world her voice and anyone who took the time to listen couldn't help but remember it. She was an inspiration to generations. If you could just take the wisdom she had within her and spread it out over the globe, there would never be a need for another commencement address. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
And now that voice is stilled. Thanks to Maya Angelou, I know why the caged bird sings, and I learned that the important thing is not the cage, but the song. Aloha, Maya. You stomped on the Terra.