The Shy, Tiny Bird

A.B. Dodge
2 min readMay 1, 2022

A Mindful Piece on True Freedom

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In a cage with a wide-open door

lies a shy, tiny bird

with supple and colorful feathers.

The bird rests as his cage contents him.

“Why bother going outside,”

the shy, tiny bird thinks to himself,

“if inside lies all I need.”

Soon a bigger bird appears out of the blue

and sits comfortably by the threshold of the open door.

He looks at the shy, tiny bird with curiosity,

and finally, has the courage to invite him out.

“Come out of this cage, shy, tiny bird.

If only you could see the vastness of the ocean,

the magnificent mountains,

and the huge, open skies,

never would you, I reckon,

stay inside this sad, little cage.”

The shy, tiny bird listens to his new friend,

and respectfully responds, nodding his head,

“Thank you for your concern, bigger bird.

But I think I do belong in my sad, little cage.

If I am ever to come out, who can guarantee

that the ocean waves won’t swallow me,

that the open skies won’t daze me,

and that the mountains won’t make me crash into them?”

The bigger bird ponders

and after a while, he speaks.

“Nobody can promise you such a thing,

shy, tiny bird. But I do tell thee,

that if you choose to remain in your sad, little cage,

How will you ever know

what the mountains will look like

when the autumn sun shines upon them?

How will you ever know

how it feels to be one with the sky and the heavens?

How will you ever feel

the taste of the ocean and its salty, gentle breeze?”

A.B. Dodge

English Teacher, Meditation Enthusiast, Writer, Lover of Inspiring Stories and Flashfiction. Visit her blog at https://energyhealingandfriends.wordpress.com/