‘Marionette’ by Jennifer, age 15, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School

Your charms pull on my strings,
it is you I will abet,
and I am slave to your whims

Your words ring in my ears like hymns,
that will my mind beset;
Your charms pull on my strings.

To you, I’ll confess my sins.
My mind loses a parapet
and I am slave to your whims

Our minds are now twins.
And should I begin to forget
Your charms pull on my strings

The thread at my seam thins.
You pull me back with a lie and a debt
and I am slave to your whims

I am caged in with pearl-topped pins
for now I am your marionette.
Your charms pull on my strings
and I am slave to your whims