Comparing The Song Puma And Patrick Lane's Poem 'The Bird'

Tomorrow X Together’s song, “Puma”, and Patrick Lane’s poem, “The Bird”, illustrate through symbolism and metaphors that freedom is precious. It is learned that one would rather perish than surrender their freedom and be kept in captivity where they have no freedom of speech, actions, and style of living. While the song tells a story about a puma working hard to maintain the freedom it has claimed for itself after escaping its prison, the zoo, the poem is about a person who captured a bird in hopes of gaining the bird's freedom. The contrasting points of view used to narrate the poem and the song, and the parallels between the treatment of the puma and the bird, emphasize that one cannot hope to achieve freedom by capturing those who put in

The puma experiences freedom for the first time in its life and decides it never wants to return to being held captive. Finally escaping into the “world [it] dreamed of” provides a constant reminder for the puma to run continuously as to does not want to strip its freedom and ability to live properly as a wild animal (Tomorrow X Together line 12). For the first time, the puma is living. Unlike the puma whose “choice is [its] leader”, the bird is deprived of its freedom and natural lifestyle (Tomorrow X Together line 29). The bird’s capturer expects the bird to be able to live freely even though they “are not a nest/ and a feather is/ not made of blood and bone” (Lane lines 10-12); as a result, the bird loses its identity and ability to choose itself. Having the ability to choose is humans’ ultimate power. Therefore, when this ability is limited or even removed, the victim loses a part of what makes them human. The contradiction of the puma gaining freedom and the bird losing freedom reveals to the reader the severe effects of constraining

After the puma escapes from the zoo, it realizes the world around it “is an alien” and that “nobody welcomes [him]” (Tomorrow X Together lines 36-37). Feeling discouraged and frightened that it has no one to rely on other than itself, the initial excitement the puma once felt after escaping dissipated. The puma now realizes that the world is a scary place full of danger, and to survive, it has to fight for the freedom it has reclaimed. Regardless of getting shot, the “blood keeps [it] running” as the puma knows the hardships it has endured will be put to waste if it gives up (Tomorrow X Together line 34). Lane’s poem further pushes the idea that motivation results from completing goals since the bird’s capturer never achieved their goal of freedom. The person assumes that by trapping another with the qualities they wish for, they can obtain those same qualities they desire from the victim. That is not true. “The bird [they] captured is dead” symbolizes that the person never accomplished their goal due to the fact they did not even attempt to work for their freedom (Lane line 1). Instead, they chose to be selfish by aiming to steal someone else’s well-deserved freedom for themself. Additionally, the poem states that “only words/ can fly for you like birds”, revealing that only by putting effort into work, or by standing up for themself, can a