An Abstraction Of Freedom

Freedom, such an unusual word.
Ghosts in my mind insist on such formality,
that I must brave the ocean's sea.
Do birdcages keep butterflies from flying the world?

I suppose that if I look for what doesn't exist
perhaps I'll find what, when I started, I had missed. 
If a bird that flies away is free
where does that leave me?

There is an endless question on repeat
That makes me turn in circles.
Is saying that we are free, truly deceit? 
I wonder, can a birdcage trap butterflies too, or is that all internal?

I suppose if you thicken the bars you'd be safer,
but then I always ask, what are you hiding from?
Even if you had a whole acre,
I think you'd still be claustrophobic, it's just what you've become. 

So, in my humble opinion
cages only hide or trap.
And if you're hiding, I think you made the wrong decision. 
Run run run but you can't hide from your past. 

Do the bars of a cage keep butterflies in too?