There's a fire in my eyes, and my fangs are about to show
You think I'm sweet and timid, not a mean bone in my body
But there are sides of me you just don't know
For within this aged body, lies a monster full of rage
He's only there to protect me from what people do and say
I'm afraid after what you are doing he is rattling his cage
If he breaks free I'm  scared what he might do
He has no heart, so no words can make him fall apart, no deed can break him down
You think I'm weak for my kindness that I have shown to you
Now I'm asking you to pay your part, give me what you owe
Or I'll unlock the cage and fling wide open that **** rusty door
So he can stomp your ***, kick you out of my life, making you happy he finally let you go

You will never know what true freedom is,
Till you have been caged by your own consciousness.

Bang bang bang
Against the cage and the restraints
Aching to be free
To jump beyond the limits
Bang
For no good reason
For bad reason
Do not
Bang bang
I said no
Do not care
Do not jump to action
Bang bang bang
There is no reason
To feel these feelings
Not for some.... Thing
Like this one
Bang bang
Against the cage
Reeling, still feeling
For no good reason

hearts are wild creatures
that's why our ribs are cages
but maybe that's why
they sing so often

I am having trouble writing.
It is as if there is a wall of bulletproof glass separating me from the words that are dying to escape the metal cage they are kept in. I am the only one with a key sitting comfortably in the pockets of my jeans, but no matter how hard I pound my fists against the wall, I do not get any closer to quieting the agonizing screams emerging from the trap. They get louder, aching for liberation, tethering their syllables around the bars as they sit, confined within a reality I am desperate to free them from.

They are starving to live. I can see the outlines of their bones through the transparent letters that blanket their elastic limbs, each day growing more tired, forgetting the taste of hope every minute that passes. I can feel them collecting dust, shrinking down to fragile skeletons that have begun to lose meaning. What if one day I will no longer be able to see them? What if one day I have nothing left to save?

I am starving to live. I cannot feel love without a knife stuck wedged in the back of my throat reminding me that I have nothing to describe it with. I can give all of myself to the one who thankfully accepts it but my teeth chatter at the thought of having to apologize for stealing joy from the cookie jar. I am sorry for having no words to say sorry. They told me to tell you that they are sorry for their absence, but I do not know how to say this without them.

For now, I am waiting. The same way I do for Fridays, for your call, for my heartbeat to obey the speed limit, for time to run dry.

I will continue to wait
patiently, tiredly, averting my eyes to the hopes that maybe tomorrow, they will be small enough to squeeze through the bars and set me free.

in this cage we're forced
to fold our wings
in this love we chose not to grow
and fall all over again

Not yet,
It's still too soon.
I'd prefer for my heart to start right in my chest.
It craves to be mended,
Each shattered little piece.
No longer broken,
And finally set free.

But imprisoned by fear,
It cages itself.
Leaving the key,
Only eighty beats from its hell.
For any heartbreaker to stumble upon;
Without noticing the true power,
My heart can commend.

They watched me carefully,
fluttering in my cage, pointing at my hair.
"how fierce" said the old man with the crooked teeth.
I pressed my clawed hands against the solid bars,
widening my yellow eyes.
"no, not fierce." said the old woman with the cane.
Her leather face turned upwards, smiling,
the skin, stretching like it had not practiced that action,
in a very long time.
"how free."