The Marionette Theater

Silently I lie in the dark, pliable as a rag.
Waiting for the strings' choking hold
To announce the arrival of the evil puppet master.

 A single light shines upon me,
The beam cold and unfeeling.
A curtain before me parts and I can see the crowd.

 I am begrudgingly yanked to my feet by unseen hands
And soon I am locked in a deadly waltz,
My steps in time to unheard music.

 

They cheer my every move
Even though my heart tells me I am doing wrong.
The crowd, the world, does not understand.

 I hate what I have become,
A slave to the whimsical passions of the world,
A slave to the Evil One working backstage.

 I scan the faces in the crowd, looking for a shred of kindness
To erase the feeling of manipulation that courses through me.
Every face meets me with an empty stare as they are pulled from their seats and into the mindless dance.

 

As the others whirl around me, I see a man standing in the center.
He has no strings attached to him, no puppeteer controlling him.
He is free.

I struggle against my master's hold,
Trying to reach the lone man in the sea of puppets.
Finally I come near enough to hear him speak.

"I am the Way.
Come with me and be free.
Believe in me and truly live."

 

My dark eyes clear and I see that it is the Savior and I move to take His hand
But my hand is pulled back by the puppet master.
I strain against his hold.

My mind spins with questions.
Why me? How can I be forgiven?
Can I really be free?

The frenzied yank of my strings startles me from my daze and I am left to choose:
Give my whole heart to Jesus or be lost to the puppeteer.
Leave all that I know behind or be lost in all that I know.

 

Trembling I crawl away from the deadly dance of the marionettes,
Reaching for the Son of Man, hardly feeling deserving.
Wholly surrendered, I clutch His pierced feet.

I am relunctantly eased to my feet by comforting hands,
Like a father helping his child.
My Savior's face shines with the love and forgiveness that I have been searching for.

The imprisoning strings fall away and disappear like snow melting in the sun.
I am free, free from the marionette theatre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[DiggeyEleven]

I always find that many things Christian can end up being quite bland, but what always impresses me is taking expressing your love for God in a truly creative way, and not in the same way as 90 percent of believers. While the end I felt started to become a little awkward, just some of the wording and flow seemed off, overall I loved the poem and love how unique you made the subject of being saved, and the sadness of being strung and held hostage by the Evil One.

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[Adept]

I enjoyed the bleak picture you painted of a life of sin running your life. The sentences I felt flowed very well the words all seemed put together with care. Very nice.

[John Morris]

Very dark and yet somewhat beautiful. I like the way you used the idea of puppets to show control - although like Simple Lies (My poem) - this takes it into a small story giving the audience the idea that fate and coincidence may seem like it controls you but in the end it only controls the weak, the strong need to push themselves forward and break 'free from the marionette theatre.'

[Noc]

wow, very dark and scary but in the end it comes out with a happy ending full of hope. Nicely done dalrin!