The Pedestal

A puppet placed
so gently
upon a pedestal
lifted by the
little strings
and posed
precariously.

It danced upon
the pedestal,
happy as could be
for it knew no less
and knew no more
than a life guided
by those strings.

But then one day
while resting
upon
the pedestal
the strings
still tugged
the weary limbs
upon the pedestal.

So the little puppet
looked up and finally
saw the truth
of the lifelines, all,
the puppet master's
cruel little hands
no bigger than
its own.

In wrath
the little puppet
clawed away
the ropes,
in sadness, then,
the puppet
left its own
little stone,
climbed up
to the next one,
searching for…
someone.

And so the puppet
climbed, growing
into a statuette,
then on still higher
and grew still more
to a statue upon
the stone.

Tall upon
the pedestal
it was seen and awed
as divinity,
and prophecy
placed above
the normal kind.

"Alas, I've failed"
the puppet cried
from upon the pedestal
"I wanted to break those lies
that moved and prodded me.

Yet here I am for all to see,
no ground to break my fall,
I've climbed to high
I've grown too tall
upon my pedestal."