The moment the first heavy string fell on my head
Was the first time I had thought to look up.
The sky I had believed filled with shining stars
Was a twisting landscape of strings and beams.
The moment you saw my face upturned
Was when you yanked on all of my strings.
The choices I thought I had made for myself
Was merely you directing my every step.
The moment I tried to run away from you
Was when you tied me up in knots and left me.
The beautiful world I had loved and lived in
Was crumbling in brightly colored tiles around me.
The moment I cried out for the others to see
Was one where you decided to silence me.
The paralyzing pain I felt as you broke me apart
Was beyond the description of the agonized tongue.
The moment I was broken into so many pieces
Was the one where I finally lost all hope.
The truth I had clutched to my chest so closely
Was naught but shattered stones beneath my feet.
The moment I finally learned how to cry
Was one done silently and bitterly.
The warm flood of tears I had never felt
Was now the only thing that you had left me.
The moment I found myself in the consuming dark
Was as unexpected as a snowstorm in summer.
The first real choice I made for myself
Was to stand with wobbly broken legs.
The moment I looked into your dark eyes again
Was when I realized I saw fear reflected there.
The one you had thought was beyond repair
Was somehow rising stronger than before.
When I finally cast my foolish fears aside,
You realized you should turn and run.
The heavy web of strings dropping from your hands
Was the sign that you had disappeared into the dark.
I tore the bindings from my fellow puppets
And they realized they, too, could be free.
The truth I found in my bitter brokenness
Was that I had held myself captive, never you.
YOU ARE READING
Stepping Away From the Edge
PoetryA collection of poems, written from the heart. Words to speak into the dark, words to shine a light. Some a celebration of life and love. Others a quiet search for hope.
