They ruffle their feathers
Hop from branch to floor
to branch again
Twitch, blink
Eyes on this and that and over there
The colours! The shiny things!
They flit toward the space
between the bars
and clutch cold metal with eager claws
clinging to their captor
They start to flap
where there isn’t room to flap
Wings strumming an urgent rhythm
on hard wire strings
They reach for the place
from where they might reach
their potential
They reach
To fly
To soar
To become
Thoughts and ideas
ricochet and thrum
against the insides of my skull
But my body is not well
I can’t open their cage today