Maya Angelou and the "Caged Bird"

There is one author, in particular, who I find is inspirational. Her name is Maya Angelou, and I think she is inspirational because of a poem she wrote called “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” For a little background information, Maya was abused and raped when she was a little girl. This incident is what inspired her to write this poem.
The title alone has a lot of sadness built into it. In the poem, there is a free bird that gets to enjoy the basics in life and roam wherever it wants to. But also, there is a caged bird that is locked in a cage all the time and has clipped wings. All that bird does is sing and it sings for freedom. It is pretty obvious why the caged bird sings for freedom, but the fact that it sings is a sign of its sorrow and loneliness. Singing may also make the caged bird happier by releasing some of its emotion. The free bird is already happy so it doesn’t think much of singing to make it even happier. It could sing and maybe does sometimes but never in a meaningful way. Anyway, the free bird doesn’t need to sing to show off its happiness. Unlike the caged bird, it can ride through the wind or soak in the sun if it wanted to. Now, all the caged bird can do is sing. When that bird is locked in, it is usually limited to the things it can do, but it still dreams of being able to do more. Singing about its dream helps the caged bird and is what keeps it alive. It give the bird a kind of hope that maybe somewhere in the future things will work out and it will be free. Otherwise, without singing it would probably be physically and mentally dead.