But I was a bird,
and you should have known
I’d fly away.

I was not made to be caged,
but you can watch me fly.

The first time
I heard them
I swear,
I was to listening
to the most beautiful choir
in four-part harmony,
swaying
or angles wings rubbing,
& perfectly, playing
a common file instrument
angled, such a unique sound
symphonic & splendorous
they are all around
this free concert
an offering of
Mother Nature
chiming at once
uncaged,
& calling on the ladies
in perfect unison  
sounding like church
telling one another
of sunlit hours
say the flowers
fending off evil spirits
allowing me to travel
into the dark again
leaping over obstacles,
alerting me to danger,
still in their silence
  I am protected
by this harbinger of luck
a most powerful portent,
of coming things
they sit silently in the quiet,
like a copper cricket weathervane,
as the poor man's thermometer
spinning tales effortlessly,
in the wind calmly
  watching over us
a shivering in the night
save you, are mine
my Native American totem
or God's Cricket Chorus
foretelling of Sorrow
of coming rains tomorrow
ex-lovers and death
a shrill creaking
stridulating in song

Oh, I fear that day,
your music should go away
please dear uncaged cricket choir
  I truly ....
   hope you'll stay.

Cherie Nolan© 2016

I walk the street,or travel in a bus,
When I talk or I move,or even restrict myself to my groove
You stare me down with that glare of yours
You make me fall with that scowl of yours

I am your daughter,I am your wife,I am your mother
Every woman who goes through the plight

But worry not,O hungry men!
I rise..
And will keep rising
Stare me however much
I still will rise

You revile me,beat me and bring me to dust
You reprimand me with your words and the way you make me work

I am your wife,your servant or the page boy who runs for every errand
I am the beggar who clings to you for alms
I am the street dog injured by your harms

But worry not,O unthinking human heart!
I rise..
And will keep rising
Higher than the skies
I still will rise

Chained and fettered,by your iron shackles
You pull at my wrist with a freedom you burgled
And with bullets that on me you showered
You scorn me with your hatred
You trod me as if I'm dust

I am a slave,I am a Jew
I am a fat man and I am black too

But worry not still,O discriminating fool!
I rise..
And will keep rising
To infinity and to forever
I still will rise

And rise will I
Above your rebuking glares
Brighter than the lights
Till my halo makes you blind..

Unleashed
She is finally freed from her cage
Her flight feathers grew back
Her wingspan impressive like the dawn of a new day
Flighted, and ready
She takes to the sky
An eruption of beauty
Never to be seen again.

Through cage's cracks
I peeped and saw and dreamt
As time on balloons tied swiftly on my wrists
A Cheshire smile
worshiping dreamer's street
Into the wild, I walk
stirred and filled with cheated blood
the greed to bleed and feel
Mad convulsing desires;
I am death. I am reborn. I am free.
High on tall structures
Amongst others
Floating mechanically in the air,
the broken bird is finally uncaged.

My mind is abuzz,
Like a hummingbird does.
It can't be still,
And it was my will
To make everything so,
Because how will I know
The outer limits of my essence
Without spiritual lessons?
Self-taught, fear not,
Happiness is sought
Through a curious burn.
The lessons I learn
From engaging my mind,
Is that I am not blind
To tuning into frequencies,
And avoiding delinquencies
With each new experience,
Learning to control delerience.
My inner being thirsts
For a gift labeled a curse.
I want to break these chains,
Be more than insane.
I want to be free
To be the real me.
Every great individual
Has ideas that are sensational.
So say what you will,
I will have these spiritual spills,
That shakes where I dwell,
And brings me out of my shell.
I have the right to engage
With my mind, uncaged.
Hummingbirds die
If they are caged inside.

Escaping from the cage
That's kept her in so long
She tiptoes cautiously
Feet on the ground
After what seems like forever.

Getting used to it
She starts running
Stiff, creaking joints
Oiled by the fresh air, in a way.
Dancing, prancing,
Flowing gracefully
Like the wind.

She starts
Flying
Free.