Puppet on Toxics
Freedom begins where the strings of control end.

We mark the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery this day, December 2.
It is easy to become enslaved by obssessions.
Any attachment that pulls too tight becomes a chain.
🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
Hung marionette on biting wire
Taut, its tugged strings sting -
Darkness pulls, it soon tires
Of endless jolts and swings.
🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
Contorted in shapes not sought
Dancing in forms, bound tight;
A frayed string, a sudden pause
The grip strengthens with might
🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
Marionette wakes, it tries to fight
The wires that tug and bind;
Pushes 'gainst the strings that bite
The mesh that cuts and blinds.
🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
The barbed strings snap, one by one
Marionette in free fall
Drops to the floor, liberty won
It stands proud, not small.
🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
Original poem by Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin. AI tags are coincidental.
About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.


Comments (3)
Excellent, metaphorically exquisite poem, Michelle!
The puppet show never truly ends. Sometimes they applaud us, sometimes they prefer a snack instead. What matters is that after the performance, there is serenity. The marionette certainly understands falling with a parachute. I liked it very much because it helps me focus on my goal. :))
This is great Michelle. Loved the approach you took to speaking about enslavement in different context.