Well meaning people
With love and care
Gently build
Bars and chains
To protect
From pain and disillusionment
And joy and exhilaration

The cage may be decorative
Wrought iron and gingerbread
Gilt gold bars
And chocolate sauce
Or chains hammered from barbed wire
But a prison
No matter how fancy or fierce
No matter who it is built to protect
Is a prison still

Loose my chains
Protection from dreams
Is not
What anyone needs
Let me fly
Test my wings
I will try to remember
Not too close the flame
But the warmth and glow
Of happiness in the process
Is worth the chance