The Caged Phoenix

They locked her in a box of gold, with chains that shimmered, stories told. "Stay pretty,  still–don't ask for more, The fire in you? Just folklore". she smiled like myths were make–believe, But hid a flame beneath her sleeve. each breath she took was kindling slow, A furnace marked in ash and glow. The saw her feathers, red and bright, But clipped her wings do dim her light. "You burn too loud", they used to say, "And blaze is not the woman way". Yet silence cracks, and embers bite – she burst the cage in blaze and flight. Not tamed, not torn, not anyone’s— she rose to kiss forbidden suns. Now when they speak her name in fear, It echoes loud and crystal clear: You cannot cage what’s born to rise A phoenix lives in ashes's guise ~hira~