A LITTLE GOLDEN CAGE

by Palwashay Mughal

I kept my young heart in a little golden cage

She twittered and sang hearty to me all day.

So young, beautiful, and naïve was she.

One night she sang a melancholic tune.

Surprised by this, I asked,

“What is the meaning of thy woe?”

She shyly chirped, “I am discontent

in this small, lonely space.”

I did not want to part from my little heart

But days went by and her songs became despairing.

I loved her immensely, so I unlocked her cage.

She fluttered her white wings and left me oh so alone.

Two winters passed until she came back to me.

She had shrunken small.

Her right side was burnt and crumbled to ashes,

Purple and sickly yellow bruises on her left.

Her white feathers harshly plucked.

I asked, “What has happened?”

And she narrated the tale of her woe,

“I met a hart deep within the woods.

He was big and strong and said he loved me so.

He put me on his antlers and paraded me about,

Telling the other animals how I stole his heart.

He made me blush, turn purple,

And bleed till I vowed to be his.

Until one morning I found myself ravaged and alone.

My hart had left me.”

My young heart became old because

She did not weep anymore.

I carried her in my palms,

And put her back into her golden cage.