"I want to soar; I want to fly.."
Thought a tiny bird who saw others flying by
"I want to be careless; I want to be free...
But I'm not like the others and the others aren't like me."
Their wings full of grace and their legs so very long
She heard a thousand hearts beating within their song
"Perhaps one day I'll join in with my own special sound"
Then she eyed the rope on her leg which was fastened to the ground
Had it been there forever? Deep down she felt it had not
It seemed she couldn't remember; alas, she had forgot
She closed her eyes to wonder
How her life may have turned
Had only she been stronger
Than the things that were stronger than her
And try as she might, that tether held her down
Until dreams of that other life drifted away with the clouds
It seemed this was all of life she should learn to expect
But since she had no experiences, she really could have no regrets
Then one ordinary day as she rested with head under wing
She lifted up to witness quite an extraordinary thing
Forever, it had seemed, she had watched the others pass by
Never dreaming they would see her from their high place in the sky
A few had glimpsed her and descended
And now they stood around
And they said "Look at you here, now! Not making any sound!
You cannot be happy?" and the tiny bird replied "I'm not."
I've tried and I have mustered but I am held fast by this knot!
And so I have resigned myself to this spot on the ground..
And I guess I never thought you'd hear, so I never made a sound."
The other birds, they smiled, and then gnawed away at the taut string
But when the tiny bird could finally walk
she still felt the tether lingering
The ropes and chains that hold us - you cannot always touch
Their weight becomes a ghost when you have worn them all too much.