Tonight's Poet Corner: Geppetto's Sick Imagination

Geppetto's Sick Imagination
by Belinda Roddie

These strings have pulled
my limbs together too tightly
for long enough. I'll dance
for you only tonight, and
in the morning, I'll lie limp
like the splintered puppet you
want me to be. Then, once you
cut my fibers thin, I'll find a new
love in dance again, and I'll spin
until I'm dizzy enough to see stars
for the first time since Father
built me out of scraps of Mother
Nature's womb. Birth me again
in the light of seven moons,
and maybe soon, I'll feel like
a real boy for the first time,
despite your plaintive sighs
for something to manipulate
to make your old bones feel
more goddamn alive.