Several weeks ago,  I edited a black and white photograph, as displayed in this article. I took this photo at Pramuka’s bird market, Jakarta. The next step, as an artwork, worthy of the title. I suddenly remembered a poem, along with strong memories of noisy chirping birds.

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings –
I know why the caged bird sings

Poem entitled ‘Sympathy‘ above is the work of Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906), a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. This extraordinary poem, then inspired  Maya Angelou, African-American writer and poet, to create her works.

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 final stanza of Maya Angelou’s poem “caged Bird