The Puppet Master

Image: Panneau marionette

Up and down.
In and out.
Left and right.
Teeter totter.

For how long have you
been self-employed as the
Puppet Master
of your universe?

There are so many strings
attached,
so many knots
and frayed edges
to evidence your frenetic
addiction to Control.

Haven't you noticed? -
all of the puppets
have worn thin and
will no longer serve you.

Parts of you have gone on strike.

Some of them resigned.

A few got up and left.
People too.

It is time to put down
the devices of
manipulation.

The life your insecurities
have been animating
is an illusion
and the script lacks
imagination.

Sit in the audience for awhile
and watch the acts
of the past play out
in the stage lights.

Your need for control dramas
will cease
when you realize
the identity of
the missing performer.

Do you See it...?

When your heart was absent,
you devised strings
and yanked and pulled.

When you sensed the Other's
heart was absent,
you devised strings
and yanked and pulled.

Oh my silly human -
Could you just relax
and surrender
into the open arms of
the Universe?

Authentic Love
is untethered.

(c) 2011-13/Jamie K. Reaser

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" (www.hiraethpress.com)