Pinocchio's Strings

These strings used to keep me in place

They made me move in a certain way

For years I had longed to be free

I thought that is how I was supposed to be

I watched people walking in and out

Watched people through the window

Watched children play tag and hopscotch

Watched adults take care of one another

The world was light from where I could see

People were kind and hope was mine

I was filled with longing

Longing to be someone

A part of the world, a world

A yearning for a connection

I broke the strings and lived my way

I laughed and danced and sang away

Gone was the script of that dreary play

Where I was the toy with the cricket, they say

I was the painted wooden doll they made

“I want to be real” I would cry

I had wanted the hair and the skin

I had wanted the love and the pain

I wanted more than the numbness with which I watched the world go by

So when gone were the strings I ran

I learned about the world today

About the people suffering

The children lying and cheating

The adults scheming and scamming

I read to old stories again and learned

It’s always been this way

What feels right can be wrong

They both tug at me and my conscience

My conscience had broken to bits

I did what was wrong

Learned what was right when it was all too late

My master is gone

So is the home that is where I belong

With the strings on my arms

Now it’s too late

I’ve made many mistakes

Now I sit here alone with strings no one pulls and choices to be made and fear that I will do it all wrong

These string no longer tie me up or hold me down

There are no strings on me