Nighthawk (Chordeilinae): Nighthawks are neither strictly nocturnal nor closely related to hawks. They tend to be hard to spot due to their camouflaged coloring.
Do you see the glass prison, golden bars,
diamond shackles?
This is what happiness is like.
Do you hear the bird singing,
"everything's alright"?
Drowning out all thought.
This is what happiness is like.
Do you feel the stagnant air,
suffocating the fluorescent lights?
This is what happiness is like.
Glass prison, gold bars, diamond cuffs-
What a beautiful cage!
Can you hear my heart
beating like a thousand frenzied wings
screaming to escape from cages of bone?
Can you see my tears
slipping out from between rusted eyelashes
like stains that leave behind trails of cracked paint?
Can you sense the shadows
that haunt the darkness, shackled monsters
screaming in the night?
No? I know why they turn the music up
so loud, drowning out all thought.
I know why the bird sings "everything's alright"
from behind golden bars.
I know why they keep the lights on
whenever it gets too dark.
Dressing up like pretty dolls on display
with painted smiles, rosy cheeks,
convincing ourselves this is
what happiness is like.
We look around at the
glass prison, gold bars, diamond cuffs-
What a beautiful cage!
YOU ARE READING
On Icarus Wings
Poetrybut what became of the boy whose dreams were carried on broken angel wings?
