The door of the cage is creaking in the breeze
You might think no one could resist the tease
That there's nothing to lose and everything to gain
But this is everything right now and outside maybe only pain

Sleeping on a rock is a comfort all his own
The rock, the sleep and shelter could all go
With a paw outside the semi privacy
A claw exposed could lose the pleasures now routinely free

The bars stripe a view of undoubtable beauty
Perhaps exploration is actually duty
The rock is so warm and reliable though
And duty is a notion widely sown but challenging to grow

Balance always used to feel unwise
But time dilutes sense into compromise
The scales could tip forever, no return
The gate might close and twenty years of jungle burn, burn, burn

Or a lifetime in the shadows meet the light
To fire immortal darkness every night
With flaming joy and endless wonder why
The pit and cage could ever be contained within a world so wide and high