Over the last four summers
I merely looked out of the
five bay windows of my
brown brick walled birdcage
where primordial shadows
meet and dance in the street performing rituals in the
warm, wild & windy midnight
air.

I was only
a lonely observer.

But late one night deep
in the heart of the fifth
summer, I sensed an
odd strength surging
through
my weakened wings--
equally born of physical
and emotional pain and
desperation.

I quietly opened the
door of my cage, glided
down the driveway and
onto the street below,
enticed by warm blustery
and liberating midnight
winds under the strange
glow of moonlight through

translucent
sunbaked
and
cracked
clay
clouds,

no longer just admiring
the view of the dancing
shadows on the asphalt
floor through
windows, but actually
feeling the shadows of
those living branches
and leaves dance with
my shadow and
caressing my

hair
face
arms
legs
mind
and
spirit

as I did a
low test flight with
them for
only about forty feet
over and along the
back street below.

I longed to continue
my solo night flight
like a bird through
the midnight air in
currents of streets
and hundreds of miles
of highway where my
baby and I could head
across the

Sea of Change
and of Destiny

where we could at last
be truly free in our
hearts, in our minds,
and also physically.

But like a well-trained
domesticated bird
I reluctantly returned
to the large cage of my
mind where I continue
to dream of being free--

my
gentle
companion
and
me.