Puppets on puppeteers' strings
Compelled to perform on this cruel stage
Sever the ties, give us wings.

Limp and expressionless, we begin to sing,
Lines not our own, but written on a page.
Puppets on puppeteers' strings.

Words uttered from wooden lips tug on heartstrings
Wooden mouths hiding desperate rage
Sever the ties, give us wings.

One yank and we're doing handsprings
A dance choreographed by hands offstage
Puppets on puppeteers' strings.

On ropes like so many dead men we swing
Dead hearts in wooden ribcages
Sever the ties, give us wings.

Faceless gestures amounting to nothing
Noses growing, lies in birdcages.
Puppets on puppeteers' strings,
Sever the ties, give us wings.