STRINGS AND BONES

No I do not know
What lies behind this mask
Of flesh and blood.
But something inside me snaps,
Every time I stretch out my hands.

The cuts, however,
Provide the glimpses of
What is encased in this body i call mine.
And as I stare,
I see tiny strings,
Entangled to each other.
So easily torn,
But impossible to mend.

And at intervals,
I have glances
Of sanity, like acrobat,
Displaying its feats of balance and agility.
And every snap
Brings "in" closer to it.

Fatalistic people in my past
Had taught me the need
To embrace my vulnerability.
Feeling of captivity
Is all I can reminisce.

I wondered as a child,
If birds had strings too.
And the way it would hurt them,
Every time they spread their wings

But over the time
I've realized
That life and vulnerability
Are the twin points of the same bright flame
And though i once dreamt
Of being woven from the strings that were unbreakable
I now know
That real strings break
And that's the only way to know that they are real

So the snaps might hurt
But i will not refrain myself
From stretching like a bird
Till the last string, of this cage i am held captive in,
Breaks...!!