So
This poem should be about
freedom, you know?
It should be about
getting away
finally spreading my wings
escaping from all the problems

But
It's not

Because
Whenever I shift closer to the door
of this deadly
                     suffocating
                                      cage
Someone reaches through the bars and shoves me back

Because
Whenever I extend my fingers into the light
just outside the cold
                               bitter
                                         bars
Someone slaps my hand and tells me to stay in the cage

And now
And now

The cage is freedom
The cage is sanctuary
The cage is home

The light hurts
       Escaping hurts
              Smiling hurts
                     Laughing hurts
                           Freedom hurts
So maybe it's better for me
just to stay within the bars
locked up under the weight of these obligations

So that
They can't get mad at me for trying to touch the freedom
that they all take for granted
because they are not in
the cage
        of my mind