Cages

I know cages
Yea
I know the kind that
Locks the mind
Chains the soul -
Walls that close in so tight
That there is nowhere for me to roam.
I know cages
Yea
Whispers from everywhere
That mass into one voice
So heavy it threatens to crush
The ear drum in two
Paralyzin
There is nothin I can do.
I know cages
Yea
These streets I call home is one -
Thugs, druggies and whores
Clinch at the drift of my baggy jeans
They always bringin me down -
Its like a sea out here
A sea of things that
drown me in my lost hope.
I know cages
Yea
Lives transformed in a second
As the eye blinks
And here I go off to yet
Another wake
For a friend
Who will never see
3 x 10.
I know cages
Yea
Im tired of the clang
Steel on steel makes -
Draggin me from rest
That only comes in drops at a time -
Its like I be runnin too fast/long
from what? I dont know
I do know -
Everything and anything
Whatever it is
I cant catch my breath.
I know cages
Yea
Of the heart
Of the mind
Of the body
Of the soul
Examined lab rat
Puttin on a show
Goin in circles
Chasin whats his own.
I know cages
Yea
Homeless
In a shelter
Tryin to stay out of the
Stormy weather
But it dont matter
Whether it rains or shines
My life line is repetitive nature.
I know cages
yea...
staring out like an animal
watchin' they/them
watchin' me
laughin'
pointin'
eatin' popcorn while they enjoy
the spectacle
of something wild but tamed
under the sedative of oppression
and afflication
personal and or otherwise
I know cages
yea...
But I dont know where the keys be
That could set me free.