Marionette

I watch her carefully

A painted smile

Dimpled cheeks

Laughing on command

She lays limp at night

Inky tears in her eyes

While her puppeteer sleeps

His snoring blocking her dreams

In the morning he lifts her

Her body coming to life

He repaints her melted face

And she smiles like all the rest

But I can see it in her eyes

That she can't breathe

She controls nothing

She never gets a say

She moves along a course

In her marionette way

I reach out to touch her

But I can't move an inch

Because the mirror is far away

And my puppeteer is once again asleep