From the Vaults: Puppet Minds

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.