Waiting for this Moment

Recently Daddy and mouse went to a poetry reading, it was a series of classical and contemporary. One of the poems selected and read was by Maya Angelou, and called I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It was admittedly moving to hear. If you know nothing at all about it, when you hear the words you understand. It's about civil rights, oppression and the reason the bird in a cage sings.

Through the years, many musicians, since music is mouse's poetry have sung about the bird struggling to fly, being caged as a metaphor for some sort or oppression. Like the Beatles song Blackbird also written about the civil rights movement. It's a song about freedom. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take this broken wing and learn to fly." Carly Simon wrote in her song, "That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be" a song that's a bit jadedly optimistic about marriage, "You say we'll soar like two birds through the clouds, But soon you'll cage me on your shelf - I'll never learn to be just me first by myself"

The band Rush described fame as being inside a "guilded cage." in their song Limelight.

There's an oddball common thread for mouse to turn over (and over) in her mind. Actually, the Beatles, Carly Simon, and the Rush songs were already inside her head when we went to the poetry reading. The odd common threads, birds, cages, oppression and mouse had been pondering these...well since...Omega proposed marriage. See, the Carly Simon song really influenced mouse, the cynical part of marriage mouse has seen played out by friends too many times to admit.

Of course, mouse decided to marry him, but still the idea of bird in a cage confused mouse and seemed to cumulate when she heard the poem being recited that evening. On the way home, mouse asked Daddy why he thought the caged bird sang. Not knowing where mouse was going he said nothing but asked for mouse's thoughts instead.

That's what he always does, soon mouse was musing outloud about how maybe the caged bird sings because it's happy. The bird feels safe, secure inside the cage. It likes being provided for and not having to worry about its next meal or the neighbors cat. It doesn't have to worry about being injured or hurt, or having its nest raided by another predictor.

At this point Daddy pulled off to the side of the road, sensing the meltdown that was soon to come and pulled mouse close. It's the confusion that happens in mouse's head. The mental tug of war, between the idea that her consensual slavery is somehow wrong. People fought for freedom and here is mouse saying that she doesn't want it.

Daddy stopped the cycle before mouse went too far, by reminding her none of that really matters. What matters is why the caged mouse sings and she sings because she's safe, loved and cherished. All the rest needs to be left behind. It was a good talk we ended up having .