Locked up and Shackle But no chains to tackle Try to speak Am I really so weak Try to write But only darkness, my light I know why a cage bird sings Words once rolled like thunder Now silent like a baby slumber No paper for my expression Paper but no pen for the lesson I know why a cage bird sings Sentences on paper like the page is blank Emptiness and despair is all I drank Unable to perceive what really is true Once considered the best, my question, what to do? I know why a cage bird sings No one holding, no one stopping The horrors in my mind, causing my failing I am my destruction Like monstrous volcano with no eruption I know why a cage bird sings I long for freedom My words are my crown, my kingdom My words taken away only by me I need to be strong so I can be free I know why a cage bird sings A song so sweet to the ear Unable to move, brings only a tear This is how I feel inside Trapped in my body, tortured along ride I know why a cage bird sings Reginald Francois

When I wake up I am afraid...I am afraid of myself...I am afraid of my mother...when I wake up I am afraid of my mother I am afraid who she will be. Angry? or Loving. I am afraid what will happen if my friends find out what I am...I am the bully because I am being bullied...I am afraid of everything that makes me feel normal so I make others feel like freaks. I bleed so I make them too. I am afraid of loosing the one thing that scares me the most. When I wake up I am afraid of where I came from. I am afraid of that night with the fire works and the musty cabin. I wasn't the type to wear sweaters but ever since that night I feel so horrible about myself. I let that happen I let him do that to me. I am afraid of what people would think about me the girl from California that gave it up for a small town of Edison, New Jersey.