even if my jailer lets me go, I do not have enough breath for flight

It's you I want, yet I know why
I could never hold you to my heart's content,
for you're the bright and cloudless sky
and I am a bird captive in a cage.

Behind raw iron icy bars
I cravingly stare at your face,
daydream a magic hand arrives
and frees this bird to wing your way.

I daydream-escape this silent cage
in a moment when my jailer slackens,
laugh into his eyes, then engage
myself in a life by your side.

I daydream all this, but I know
I do not have the strength to leave;
even if my jailer lets me go,
I do not have enough breath for flight.

From behind the bars a child
smiles every light-choked morning,
and his lips give kisses wide-eyed
when I trill out thrilling songs.

Should I one day break out and flee,
what could I say to this crying child?
Dear sky, leave me, let me be,
for I'm a bird copped in a cage.

I brighten this darkened ruin
with the flames of my burning heart.
I'd bring this dwelling ashen ruin
should I choose to flicker off.

[Forugh Farrokhzad {1934-1967} 'The Captive (Asir)', from Sin: Selected Poems]