You built me a nest.
Told me it was safe.
Told me the sky was not.

You never taught me to use
my wings,
Only warned me of the danger.
Storms.
Monsters.
Winds.

But I have seen the sky,
How can I stay put?
I have heard its calling,
Felt the empty place where I should be.

You tried to make me fear it,
Told me it would break me apart.
Then you did.

But even with wings, broken,
I dream of the top,
Even on the ground,
My instincts seek to fly.

What do you do
When someone you tried to silence
Still learns to sing?

I was never meant to stay,
You always knew that.

My heart beats,
Every time it calls the sky.
My mind treats
Freedom as its sole obsession.
Liberation is the blood
Flowing in my veins.

Whether I rise,
Or fall,
Or die in this attempt,
I'll leave this nest.

Even in death, as in life,
I'll court freedom, and fly high.
Because even dying things
Still leap towards the sky.