I know why the caged bird sings
( Maya Angelou )

( America’s Young Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman wears a Birdcage Ring as she recites ‘ The Hill We Climb ‘ at the Biden -Harris Inaugural on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 20-1-2021
Maya Angelou wrote ‘ Caged Bird ‘ in 1983 )

Sister
Woman
Black Human Being
Poet

I honour you
I carry you forward
In my being
And in my words

Not all children
Are born of the body
Not all DNA
Is physical
Not all descendants
Are from one genealogy

I am
Because you were
I speak
Because you spoke
I sing
Because you sang

I am at liberty
Because your mind was free

But I know
I must be more
And I am
And I shall be

The Caged Bird
Is now the Uncaged Eagle

I continue
Every minute , Mother
to untrammel
Me
To untrammel
You
It’s my thing
To do

I offer you the jewelled homage
Of a Beryl Bird
In a Golden Birdcage
For all my sweetness
I have not lost
The ability to rage

No
We are not inured
Liberty
Is never assured
So I am spare
Agile , alert
Alive , articulate
Eloquent,
As you had meant
Lyrical , melodious
Love- filled , glorious
And lithe
As a scythe

I will never allow
My sword blade to rust
Never not dare
To do all I must

It’s your time to rest
As I take forward your best
And trust
When put to the test
We shall all be thus blest

Thus womankind
Mankind
Poetkind
Has ever pursued
It’s endless quest

Poetry
Dies never
As ever
Since Eden
Till Kingdom Come
My poem
Sings of Freedom

( Amita Sarjit Ahluwalia )