I am not a puppet or toy
whose strings and buttons
you can pull and push at will
for I bleed when I am cut
and I cry when I am in pain
you are now the monster
hiding under the bed
the you, that I thought I knew
now lost in the shadows
your touch no longer electric
no sparks, no love, no light
my boundaries now fortified
these lines you cannot cross
and even in my darkest night
I will no longer ache
for your power surges
as I am happy to exist
without those brief flashes of light
that only illuminated
the absence of love
for anyone but yourself
you are insubstantial
already fading from my sight
© Ann Bagnall
Annie's Poetry 