By Alexandra Seidel
The master puppeteer
who makes the clockworks of his
puppets’ minds
toggles gently just
that cogwheel filigree
as it clinks and cracks
with puppet thought
he’s used to that and also
to the tremble movements
of their wooden limbs
the spinning of their eyes of glass
the puppets’ clockwork minds
shift on their own once they’ve been
wound
and the master puppeteer
ties long strings to their little
puppet bodies
strings that are soft
as whispers in your ears
the master puppeteer keeps the key
that clockwork winds the puppets’
minds
and only he knows how to untie his
knots
and key and knot are surely his
until the cogwheels
set themselves to
making scissors
for their strings
and lock picks
to unwind their hearts
Poem first published in Star*Line.
