Once there was a puppet girl
Who lived close to the beach.
She wanted to go down to the sea
But it was always out of reach.

In her room by night and day,
Imprisoned by her strings,
She'd wait and sleep and sometimes pray
For the news the sea breeze brings.

One morning when the sun was shining
And the birds were flying high
She heard the distant sound of crying
That was carried through the sky.

The sound of this then grew louder
Until it filled her room
Until her drooping wooden head
Was steadily filled with gloom.

"Why won't this crying stop" she said
"Why won't this go away?"
"I want the crier to drop dead
And not disturb my day."

Suddenly as she thought this
The air became very still
The warm sea breeze moved through her room
But left her with a chill.

Now there was silence where she lay
Imprisoned by her strings
And on her wooden face a smile...
The kind of gift only dying brings.

She built her home in tear drops
And gave her heart to the sky.
She tied up leaves
Around her sleeves
And pretended she could fly.

One morning in mid Winter
On a day that felt more like Spring,
She opened her ears
To the sound of tears
And imagined she could sing.

Overhead the birds would sweep
In sunshine or in rain.
Part of a crowd
They were happy and proud
And ignorant of her pain.

With a final farewell to teardrops
She climbed the tallest tower...
In her silent voice
She made her choice
Knowing freedom was in her power.

With her gaze up to the heavens
She felt then only peace,
As she took one step more
That trailed across the floor
She finally sought release.

The world lit up in sun beams
As she soared high on makeshift wings,
And the birds gathered round
Because they had found
They could hear music when she sings.

©2004-2007 *acidlullaby

Author's Comments
'The Life and Death of Puppet Girl' - A poem inspired by Tim Burton's collection of short stories and poems. About loneliness.

***SPOILER!***
I'm interested to hear your interpretation of this poem because I guess it can be understood in different ways. Here's what I had in mind when I wrote it.
Puppet Girl was the one who died; that the crying was the sound of her own misery due to the prolonged isolation and abandonment although she has been so out of touch with her emotions that she didn't recognise it.
The irony is that she wanted the crying to stop because it was driving her insane and that was in fact what her loneliness was doing to her so when she wished for it to stop it ended with her death because that was the only way she could be free of her bonds.
(Find more of her work here: http://acidlullaby.deviantart.com/)