Joyfully Retired

One of the most powerful books I read this past year was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. As I think about this day in which we celebrate our independence as a people and as a nation, I’m reminded of that book. Freedom was not won on July 4, 1776 for all people and all time. It is a work in progress. If one of us is not free, none of us is free. I thought it would be fitting to share a small part of Ms. Angelou’s poem by the same name. Read it and see if you don’t think it fits on the Fourth of July.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

`  `  `  `  `

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.