Captivity

• Natalie Thompson, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2008

Like sheep, they tell me, just like sheep
Those humans come to sit and stare
They gape in awe at my fierce wings,
My pointed beak, my talons bare.

They do not know, though I’m a bird
That I’m not just a pretty sight.
I have a brain, unlike those sheep
When comes the night then I take flight.

I soar above my small domain
And snatch every morsel I can see
And I’m not stupid, I can tell
That it’s all just to pleasure me.

When it comes dawn I rest awhile
And gaze out through my wiry cage
When I get bored my frustration then
Builds up to a heated fiery rage.

I fly about in silent fury
And peck every finger that pokes through
The tangled, broken wiry mesh
That stops my one wish coming true.

I long to leave this empty cell
To let my thoughts run free
I want to venture way out there
Into the big world I can see.