The Courage to be She hovers at the brink of change, heart pounding wildly, like a caged bird longing to sing. Oh for the notes to flow smoothly, easily. Oh for a song already composed! Quivering, wanting to beat her wings hard, to fly free, she sits on her silent perch. While courage mounts for the first flight into the unknown. Susan Landon

This poem is talking about leaving home to go to collage or moving into your own house. The speaker of this poem is the mother of the bird and the bird is a metaphor for her daughter. So the mother is talking about her daughter growing up and waiting to leave until one day the daughter is ready to go “ while courage mounts for that first flight in to the unknown.”

In the poem is says “She hovers at the brink of change, heart pounding wildly, like a caged bird longing to sing.” it is referring to the daughter waiting to move on in her new life and I think that the daughter might be a teen when she wants to fly away. And when is says “Oh for the notes to flow smoothly, easily. Oh for a song already composed!” I believe this means that the daughter is growing up and soon she can move on.

5 Questions! What is the poem referring to? Who represents the bird? Who is the speaker in this poem? What does it mean when the poet says “Oh for the notes to flow smoothly, easily. Oh for a song already composed!”? What is the mood of this poem?