Tomorrow's Enclave | 24 x 24 x 1.5 in | Acrylic on Canvas | 2016 

The Marionettist (written by Magdalena Munro | 2018)

The din of unseen
gossiping crickets
lounging in weeds
gained a foothold
inside my head as
I glided down rural
routed roads.

Grey speckled song
thrushes regaled the
marionette with daring
folly.

My clandestine id
puppeteer slides a
left leg and lifts the
right arm to mint my
puppet.

Three strings -

When embers fade
as I drink liquid
darkness, twisted
twines snake away
and coil beneath
the bed waiting
for the chew of
morning.

I sleep and roam
freely in the luscious
shapeless contours
of art and letters
where little Mary
shapeshifts into

   newspaper knights
   waxy figure skaters
   tinfoil sailors
   wooden clockmakers
   clay philistines
   spunglass ballerinas
   crepe paper poets

saluting, winking-
cherry dotted cheeks
slapdash knee bends
and t-boned arms
head lolling backward
like a Spring hatchling
sucking on worms

I wonder, do you wonder?
Who controls your puppet?