Musical

She's carefully calculating every step she takes

Every bounce that causes the eye to slide towards her chest

Every careful leg lift that causes light to roll down her leg like a silken stocking

She's what we know as a puppet-master. A seducer.

She's twisted his hair into a cruel leash of adoration

But he still doesn't believe it

We have a word for this, and the word is stupid

Pinocchio was a myth, Little Clown-Puppet

Puppets can't live without their strings

You can't live without her you said

But you're living now and she's left you

Don't offer me your strings

I won't take them

Puppet Masters don't touch each other's puppets

Except she snared you away

I know what she promised to you

Someday she's going to dust you off from the corner she set you in

She's going to retouch the paint that she scratched off when you two played in the past

She's going to replace those little skates she thought were so cute at the time

And you're going to let her.

You're going to encourage her.

I'm a puppet master from the shadows

And we have never seen her like in the spotlight

My dark shadows hold nothing against the light

So don't run to me, Little Clown

If you run to me she'll only want you back

To play with

Her mark on you glows still in the shadow

She's looking for you and it won't help if you clap for her

From the seats and the shadows

She can see you out in the seats and she wants to make you dance

She can see you dancing and she wants to hold your strings again

Little Clown-Puppet, can you not see that you can't dance for me any longer?

The music plays but it's not yours anymore, or even mine

You thought you used to play the strings

But now they play you