Gilt cages
Of silver and gold
All of different ages
Padded with silk and lace
About each one a story is told
Of how it had come to that place.

Colourful plumage
A rainbow of feathers
A tasty camouflage
Relieving the eyes
Tiny feet bound with leathers
Capturing them with surprise.

Precious beaks
Nibbling carefully at a seed
Randomly some shrieks
Appear from the creatures
As they hungrily feed
Like ravenous vultures.

Some are freed
And take off silently
They all feel the urgent need
To escape from that place
Spread their wings defiantly
Without even a trace.