My beautiful golden cage, as delicate and nurturing as it is unyielding and fierce; though the misinformed may think it a prison, it is instead where I found my haven. Under the protection of a guiding hand and commanding presence, I built my nest and curled up tight, contented and docile. A sense of freedom known only when looking out from behind the gilded bars.
My fears became fearful and knew to hide, for they had ceased to be the sole ruler of my actions; every worry weighing my heart eased by the right words, a racing mind lulled to a state of tranquility by nothing more than the soothing resonance; the burdens once pulling me under, drowning me in a sea of my own creation, could no longer find hold; each decision, once a battle inside my mind, became an order to follow with ease. A soul made untouchable by the cruelties beyond, for the cage wherein I found my peace was built by the one to whom I entrusted my being.
But all that glitters...
To one day wake and find empty space where once there stood a barricade was a sorrow felt soul-deep. I had clipped my own wings, letting go of my defenses in the ultimate show of trust and devotion, yet with no desire to fly free, I stumbled my way past the door left hanging open. Made to leave the protection of my cage, safe and warm, I walked back out into the biting gale and piercing rain to which I was born.
Bars that once provided comfort traded for a wall that kept me apart, the distance marked by a chasm of indifference once filled with intimate affection. Yet desolate and chilled to the bone, I never faltered nor strayed, peering through the window at my glinting cage. Fearing every morning that I may one day look to find another in my place, a crippling agony in my heart with each reminder that my vacancy is looking to be filled - that I am no longer welcome. Yet, a gnawing hope ignites each night - dreams that I might one day be allowed back inside, locked safely behind the bars as I finally learned what it meant to be free.
But still, I preen, keeping my wings clipped and clean, even when hope begins to fade as a new dawn breaks. Though the effort now goes unnoticed, I still try my hardest to be a good girl and follow the rules once set in stone. So now, I lie in wait with my back to the glass, displaying the faithfulness to which I still hold fast. Vulnerable and aching in body and mind, I call on Midas to come down from his throne and return me to the place whence my heart had found home.
"Her penultimate sighs called softly on the kindling wind
Her saintly eyes filling with tears, lifting with truth
And then a golden flash like the onset of Heaven
Leaving her screams breaking my heart
And in the grip of fire I knew the death of love"