It was done very politely,
but I can recognise a brush-off –
if a bit belatedly.
Your new man
wants to cage you.
I guess the shit hit the fan
when he realised that I
was able to see this
with my clear, grandmotherly eye
and that I did not
modify my rage, in saying to you
everything I thought.
So now I join the many
friends denied your new number.
Will you be left with any?
Well, you’re 26
and desperate for love.
This I can’t fix.
More fool me?
But I said what I could, and God help you!
What will be, I suppose, will be.
‘Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird’ is an old music hall song. It tells the story of a canary in a gilded cage, who fell in love with a passing sparrow. But she told him she’d rather be free, even in the cold of winter, ‘than in a cage of gold.’ The story of me and my young friend is different; obviously no romance between us, and my friend is the one freely choosing the cage – or so it appears to me. Still, when I received the polite brush-off email (after 12 years of relating like family) the title of the song popped straight into my head.
Linking to Poets United's Poetry Pantry #315
Regardless of how pretty they might be, cages are always prisons... even if the caged bird can't see the lock. It's terrible when we are looking from the outside and can do little about the situation.
ReplyDeleteYikes. Fair warning! I feel the depth of emotion when the cage door is already closed!
ReplyDeleteNothing more I can do at this point.
DeleteLife is such that it won't give wisdom in youth...sigh...
ReplyDeleteYes, how true. Now that I come to think of it, many people warned me against my disastrous first marriage, when I was 22 – but I wouldn't be told.
DeleteInevitably, the day will come when she realizes you were right. The hardest thing for me to do has been to watch my daughters making this same choice. I, too, carefully said what I observed and heard "i'm doing it anyway" with the inevitable results. Sigh. It takes women so long to grow wise. Your poem is beautiful and sad. And I love the title.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I hope your daughters are better off now.
DeleteOne married happily, the one who said "I'm doing it anyway" - not. But she is strong and will escape and be all right.
DeleteShe undoubtedly cannot see the forest for the trees are in the way. One always wonders what one should say when one notices the direction someone is walking on the path of life. To say something or say nothing. You made your choice, & she has chosen what to do with your wisdom. Who knows what the future will bring for her!
ReplyDeleteCan only hope and pray!
DeleteWell composed. Sadness combined with sweetness. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying so.
DeleteOh how achingly beautiful in the poem itself and in the pain of the backstory ... This young woman has doubled her foolishness in choosing the cage and in locking out the wisdom and love of one as kind and clear as you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pearl.
DeleteYou never want to listen until the door is closed... I thought of Maya Angelou and caged bird reading yours.
ReplyDeleteOh this is so beautifully poignant.. and I can completely relate to it as I too have been 'politely brushed off' by my peers at times. I guess sometimes you just have to let them go. We deserve so much better. xo
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Anyone who would brush you off, Sanaa, it's definitely their loss!
DeleteA brush-off gives a choice whether to accept or not.The tendency is to just ignore and get on with life. There are many others more deserving of one's friendship!
ReplyDeleteHank
Well, this friend has had some second thoughts about the brush-off if not the cage, so there is still some slight connection after all, but on a much more superficial level.
DeleteGood advice seldom receives a welcome. Sadly the best lessons learned are the mistakes we make by ourselves as desire often overwhelms commonsense. As you say "Que sera sera".
ReplyDeleteWise remarks, thank you, Robin.
DeleteAs ever your unique voice carries this story home - i only hope he will see sense.. even the world is a cage of sorts. we need our friends..
ReplyDeleteHow very acute you are, Jae! And quite right. xx
Deletei too would opt for the freedom fly
ReplyDeleteHave a nice Sunday Rosemary
much love...
Thanks, Gillena and same to you. Mine is finished now and I am off to bed. :)
DeleteYou had a vision and wished to share. hoping to leave the door ajar...we are caged in so many ways we need some freedom in life.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteI love how conversational this is... like you're talking this aloud. It makes the reader feel like they're listening in. Really nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you; I'm glad you liked that aspect.
DeleteBlessings to your wisdom! Great comparison with the song!
ReplyDeleteI suppose for me it's an old symbol of being caged; I heard it often as a child, when it was popular on radio.
DeleteCages are always cages--even the pretty ones--felt this piece in my bones
ReplyDeleteWhere I'm feeling it too.
DeleteSad...I felt this one.
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly written with great feeling!
DeleteWhat a helpless feeling, to see what is happening and not be able to influence it. Your friendship may give her strength, yet.
ReplyDeleteI hope that may be so.
DeleteQue Sera Sera!
ReplyDeleteGrandmotherly eyes never lie & words & feelings are often right!
We all live in cages of our own making. Security has its charms.
ReplyDeleteIt often takes a wise outsider to see the cage; the one inside is usually or chooses to be blind to the bars. There is a lot to learn from this poem.
ReplyDeleteI saw this as, to use an old quote "hindsight being a wonderful thing" and if friendship could open a cage, that would be perfect. Well penned and a really good read
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for those of us who have reached an age where we have acquired a bit of worldly wisdom by virtue of having lived a lot of life - to hold our tongues and watch our young ones set off down a path we KNOW will not end well. There doesn't seem to be a tactful way to convey an odious truth - so I, pretty much, just go for it, and say my piece. Sometimes they listen. Sometimes they don't. I enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDelete