I was a bird
Flying free
Over every land
Beyond every sea
A sparrow
Small and sleek
No cumbersome limbs
To burden me

Then I was a gazelle
The one who is chased
My days have been
No longer gay
A hunter
Not to fall astray
From the hunted
With their deadly ballet

Then I was a mere housepet
Locked within the cage’s bounds
Sniffed out I was
With the noses of those bloodhounds
Sick of the imprisonment, I was
After a few rounds
Of mistreatment from my keepers
Of torture’s terrible sounds

Then I was a tiger
Full of adrenaline
The anger empowered me
Victory was mine
Blowing past the keepers
(An utter waste of my time)
My power overwhelming
The prison could only resign

Then I was a kiwi
A free but flightless bird
The thought my past was behind me
Truly was absurd
The hunters will find me again
If only I give word
Not for a time, not again
Will their minds be deterred

Then I was a turtle
My trot all to slow
I couldn’t hide
As I lay exposed
I only tucked my head away
How I shamed so!
To be caught again
By my greatest foe

Now I am a ghost
Fading away into the air
My heart was weakened
With my great despair
Now my shame
Is the sash that I wear
The marks of my failure
The only burden I bear

I ask you, my children
Do not be unwise!
The dangers of a free bird’s journeys
Lie in disguise
Your greatest enemy
Watches with one wary eye
Till you stumble into the trap
To be laid the same fate as I