Hickey: The Caged Song

Hickey: The Caged Song

In a world of pink and porcelain dreams,

She took her breath with silent screams.

A heart that yearned for speed and flight,

Yet dolls were placed in hands too tight.

"Cars are for boys," her mother said,

"Hold your doll, tuck her in bed."

At five, beneath the sunlit skies,

She played with boys, their laughter wise.

Yet whispers rose, sharp and stern,

"Girls with girls, it's time to learn."

At ten, she waved a friend goodbye,

A boy who made her spirits fly.

"Speak not with them," the voices warned,

"They're wolves in sheep's attire adorned."

Thirteen came with a crimson tide,

A gift of nature, yet wrapped in hide.

She knew not why, nor dared to ask,

A secret veiled behind a mask.

"Call it 'P', don't say the name,

"Stain not your dress, nor speak of shame."

"Stay away from schoolroom doors,

"These are rules, these are laws."

At twenty-one, upon her skin,

A mark of love, yet draped in sin.

A Hickey—soft, a whispered trace,

Yet panic danced upon her face.

"Hide it now! Conceal it fast!

"This shameful brand was never meant to last!"

Yet why, she thought, should love be chained?

A kiss, a touch—why deemed profane?

Is not her skin a canvas free,

To paint desire, to let love be?

You say she's free, yet she still hides,

Beneath the weight of unseen tides.

She is not free—no, not until,

She speaks of blood without a chill.

Not free, until love's embrace,

Is not a sin she must erase.

Not free, until she dares to claim,

Her body's joy without its shame.

The cage is gold, adorned and bright,

But bars still steal the breath of flight.

And till the day she soars unbound,

She walks this earth, yet never found.