Poem Analysis: He Once Send Me By Maya Angelou

He once sent me a poem by Maya Angelou. The poem included the line “The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of the things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom”. The bird fears what it will encounter outside of its cage so it never attempts to escape. This bird longs for freedom so deeply that he even sings to it but the bird’s fear of change causes him to stay in the same situation even though the bird can easily get out of it. This bird represented both of us at one point in our lives. He told me that he just has 15 more years worth of scars than I do.
Coach Moore, he is married to the counselor at the school I went to and taught my 7th and 8th grade P.E. classes. He was tough and scary and I was nervous to begin with because I had never been good at classes like that. At the time, I had undiagnosed depression and an anxiety disorder which led me to start cutting. I think he always knew but let me come to him about it first. He hardly yelled or even raised his voice. However, I could just be thinking that because half the time I
I told him that I had depression and struggled with cutting. He nodded like he already knew but wanted confirmation. He told me his story and how he’s struggled with things too. He gave me some advice that really hit home for me. He told me not to be afraid of change and that I can not run away from my problems. He said I can try to chase them away with drugs, alcohol, and sex but none of it would make it better and that the only way to deal with fear is by facing it head-on. Then, he said something that I will always keep in my heart. He said ‘You can choose to let your problems destroy you, or you can choose to learn from them.” This stuck with me every day since