Written piece
The ego is a puppeteer
Sumon Sadhu
United Kingdom
About this piece
The ego as a puppeteer describes the feeling of being weighed down by the expectations of society and not having agency in this world. It exposes the thin veneer between being pulled and the strings that pull us.
The ego is like the puppeteer for the soul
And my arms
Held up in string
Are the pull of society
Dressed up in bright costume
I’m the lead act
in a show for an imaginary crowd
Staring
And laughing
At my clown makeup
And my big red nose
And whispering about me
To the neighbors
I’m the talk of the town
And yet I feel like I’m about to drown
I feel shame in my pencil shaped legs
My embarrassment
Ripples through the threads
But instead of coming from the top
Comes at me from the sides
The incoming tides
Of faking a smile
Time after time
Becoming a migraine of sorrow
And dread
And doubt
The crescendo of the voices of tomorrow
Can I really dance?
Without my master
What am I really about?
But back to the show
The intermission ends and..
Applause applause
The crowd goes wild
Another penny appears
Thrown from the floor
Into my empty box
I see all these shiny coins
Stacked haphazardly
Like a mirror shaped like a puddle
Reflecting my clown shaped head
And then It strikes me
I’m nothing but a hollow shell
Made of blue
Unable to see the light inside of me
The message is crystal clear
My puppet master won’t let me flee