Poised between going on and back,  pulled
Both ways taut  like a tightrope- walker, 
Fingertips pointing the opposites,
Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball 
Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on,
Running a scattering of steps sidewise,
How he teeters, skitters, tingles, teases,
Taunts them, hover like an ecstatic bird,
He's only flirting, crowd him, crowd him,
Delicate, delicate, delicate, delicate-now! 

The free bird leaps 
on the back of the wind 
and floats downstream 
till the current ends 
and dips his wings 
in the orange sun rays 
and dares to claim the sky. 

But a bird that stalks 
down his narrow cage 
can seldom see through 
his bars of rage 
his wings are clipped and 
his feet are tied 
so he opens his throat to sing. 

The caged bird sings 
with fearful trill 
of the things unknown 
but longed for still 
and his tune is heard 
on the distant hill 
for the caged bird 
sings of freedom 

The free bird thinks of another breeze 
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees 
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn 
and he names the sky his own. 

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams 
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream 
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied 
so he opens his throat to sing 

The caged bird sings 
with a fearful trill 
of things unknown 
but longed for still 
and his tune is heard 
on the distant hill 
for the caged bird 
sings of freedom.