The Noose

               One after another they're dropping
                                                       like flies,
                                  whose clocks have chimed their last.
               See me? Sitting in the corner,
                                               smiling?
                                  That's a puppet whose strings have snapped!

    I've watched from that corner,
                       lamenting with kin
            for their pain or emotional trials,
    ever since my own opra's finale -
    but focus not on that!

                                                      Focus on the puppet
                                                        - the smiling toy -
                                                 with the strings of his show
                                                       a noose at his neck.

He, the tool, the puppet... me...
showing a smile he cannot erase.

                         He but sits, watches, and listens -
                                   comforting with a force fed grin -
                                           as one after another
                                                  people he love
                                                         draw him in
                                                              to their own agonizing productions.

Stories of love,
             frustration,
                        and terror,
are all he now sees of life.

And so each tale surrounds him,
                   placing him center stage.
                               He cannot move on account of the noose
which keeps him trapped within the conflict.

Man against woman,
       friend against friend,
              Cherished beloved all of them -
                                                          each one using the grinning fool
                                                          as a form of emotional baggage.



Curtains close,
the pathetic man wonders
if any applause is really for him.
He rarely speaks, only listens,
for the actors only talk with him.

                     Deep within the depths of his mind
                                   tears begin to fall.
None are seen,
   none are heard,
      because the idiot was manufactured with a smile.
It's all he knows,
   it's all that matters,
      because it's all others have ever known.

                                             In a world when paralyzed,
                                                 you must understand,
                                                   under the spot light
                                      and the pleading gaze of loved ones -
                               the fool can't move without hurting someone,
                                      or himself thanks to that damn noose.

His own strings,
   his own life,
      are what trap the miserable tool.

Can't anyone see the noose?
can't anyone feel his torment?
         He has a story of his own you monsters!
He has his own production.

                                              Well, now the puppet begins to stand,
                                               forgetting the strings of a former life.
                                                He'll protect those who deserve it!
                                                For once in his life he's taking sides.

Remember well, that "puppet" has a story,
and he's sat through a lot these years.

                                                    It's overdue he made a move
                                                             that made sense.
                                                          Even if it ends in tears.