Marionettes Poem by Gary Scott Gebert

Your strings tug at me,
directing my every move.
Keeping me in-line
for fear that I fail in some way.

Caught in an perpetual web
powerless to escape.
Lost inside this self
surrounded by the shadow of you.

Twitching from what you’ll do,
cowering from what you’ll say.
Knowing I have not the choice
feeling empty and alone beneath you.

No sensation from heart or mind,
as if made from lifeless material.
As you slowly carved my features,
giving me shape to your liking.

Life without choice,
defeated to follow the masses.
All purpose misplaced,
lost beneath an overwhelming hand.

Yet I hear of others,
those who have broken free.
Able to think and feel,
choosing their own.

Walking away from bondage,
leaving all this behind.
Choosing a better life,
one without you.