September 15th, 2025
by Onwabo Mkenku
Break free, caged bird
like you were never in captivity.
Break free from
judgement, prejudice,
failure, disappointment,
curses called upon you
by people that you thought
rooted for you but yet
they are the ones holding
the knife to your back
causing wounds that you
need to heal for a lifetime.
I know time heals, but can it
heal psychological pain
that plays every day?
Break free, caged bird
like the sky's the limit.
There are always obstacles clipping your wings
and every day you start over,
grow those wings firm
and reach the sky again,
again,
again, until you
Break free again.
Become alive even if you have
no family, future,
no direction, blurred vision,
losing focus,
cannot reach the sky.
Am I not destined to reach it?
Falling apart
too overburdened to fly
like the other birds, to the sky.
Even science is on their side.
For a bird to fly,
needs to have acute keel, feathers,
but not overladen
or will end up
a flightless bird
which cannot reach the sky.
About the Poet
Onwabo Mkenku resides in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Read the poet's biography and Wax Poetry and Art publications
on Onwabo Mkenku's Artist Page.
This poem is included in Poetry World #13,
published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in Wax International:
Which Way is Home?
by Queen Visha
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