cage of the mind

there are many phobias
within the human mind:
a person could be terrified
of heights or failure or plague,
but i writhe at the thought
of my little silver cage.

i have always been found
out wandering where
i supposedly should not be,
but it is social confinement
which keeps me from normalcy.
i would rather walk barefooted
than ever be laced down;
the very idea of "this is your life"
produces gray hairs on my crown.
a person can either embrace
a free spirit, when they pass through,
or push them back into a cage,
the only cage they ever knew.