Invisible Cages

Shell on shell, we wait for hollow feelings to make themselves real
Little boy and little girl pacing dazed around the insides of our hearts
Caged birds who wonder how they are locked inside these caverns of dust

The little girl peeks out and sees the outside of the other
The little boy does the same
Neither one seeing what is really there - only the outsides seem real

When little boys try to be men, it's because they can't see that the little girls are trying to be women
When little girls try to be witty, it's because little boys only tell them they're pretty
And they'd rather be witty than pretty most days

Like puppeteers pulling strings of fantasy
We play the symphonies we think the other's ears want to hear
And keep our honest songs locked up inside our tombs of fear

Walk this way, talk this way, look this way, look that way,
Motions stiff and methodical
No music in our plodding steps

What makes us forget ourselves in the eyes of another?
Those mirrors that reflect back the outsides of our souls
So that we see only the fading parts and forget what's in our hearts?

The keys to our closed doors are inside our own hands
No one else can unlock them for us
Courage rises when we know that there's freedom inside us
Waiting to fly on the wings of the wind

Come with me, love, and I'll go with you
Quiet tenderness will see us through