How Your Caged Voice Grew Feathers

Here is a story I heard about you….

I shared this poem here on my Substack a long while ago, before many of you likely subscribe. It’s been on my mind again as I prepare for our next retreat. It feels like the perfect reminder of why we gather to write together.

To find out more about my upcoming retreats (for writers and non-writers alike!) please follow this cute little button

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here is a story about you that I heard from a gossiping angel who was snacking on a strawberry in a tree in my backyard this past summer

the angel said that 

you used to soar 
above the world
 
they said that 

you were once surrounded 
by so many miracles 
that nobody could tell
where the wonder began and you ended

you were a swirl 
of soaring grace 
 
~ but one day (a long while ago)

a comet came roaring down 
and the sky came apart all around you

and after being so wounded 

you became grounded to gravity
and found yourself wounded and walking
in a foreign land

eventually, you were captured by those
who told you that flying was now 
too dangerous

they said that 
that you would enjoy 
the safety of confinement 
 
so, they put you in a cage
and clipped your wings

for “your own safety” 

the angel went on to say that 

for years you stared through 
the iron bars and fantasized about 
taking flight once more
 
~ to feel the great wind in your face
~ to be untethered to earthly things
~ to be able to flirt with heaven again
 
I heard that you dreamed
every night about being
able to reclaim your freedom 
 
"but your freedom never came," 
the angel told me

and over time, 
you fell into a deep despair
 
“I’ll never leave this place,”  
you repeated 
to yourself over and over 

 The angel said that in your 
most desperate hour
you prayed for God to let 
your heart stop beating

so you could become a ghost 
in order to feel yourself become 
tangled up in a hot summer breeze 

- even if just for a second
 
I heard that you prayed to Spirit 
to allow your suffering to end

Even if that meant that you 
would be swept up by oblivion

I began to weep as I listened to your story because it sounded so familiar

the angel reported somberly that 
your prayers were never answered

and you resigned yourself
to being stuck in the cage forever

then the angel said that 
 
during one winter night
 (not too long ago) 
a moonbeam winked at you
through the gaps of your cage bars

and how overtook you were
by the soft glow 

and how you sang a psalm about
how lovely it all was 
 
the moon heard you 
And changed it’s hue from 
white to lavender
 
and suddenly you remembered
something you were told when 
you first hatched 

your voice can 
change the world 

and that 

there is no prison
that can hold your song 

the angel said that even though 
 they clipped your wings
 and put you in a cage
 
you let your voice grow feathers 
and it slips out through the cage every
night to explore the world 

every time you open
your mouth and sing
you escape the prison
that you thought you 
would never leave 

I heard that you learned 
that you didn’t need your
wings to be close to heaven 
 
you just needed 
to find your voice 

and as the angel hugged me goodbye
she told me 

that once you started singing
~ you never stopped

and that now you are surrounded
by so many miracles that nobody can
tell where the wonder begins and you end

you are still such a swirl 
of soaring grace 

oh, my love, 

as the strawberry scented
angel rose up I shouted 

how I couldn’t wait to hear
your song 

because 

maybe it will
help me find
my own 

~ john “wingless bird” roedel 

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2025 IS THE YEAR YOUR VOICE GROWS FEATHERS!

Have you felt the flutter of a song trapped inside you, waiting to be set free? Maybe this is the year you open the door and let your story take flight.

Just the other day, I heard from a strawberry-scented angel that your voice has been quietly waiting for you to find it again.

Consider this your personal invitation to join a community of Unafraid Storyteller’S space where we let our words grow feathers and slip through the cages we didn’t even realize that were holding us back.

I have writing retreats and events blooming all across the country, with a couple of opportunities in Italy next fall. There are also new online gatherings just announced, where you can listen closely and write down the lyrics to the music of your life.

Follow the button below to see if one of these opportunities meets you where you are right now. This could be the year you sing your story out loud and I promise, you won’t regret it.