You take the stage
timid
afraid
of your own voice.
Your resolve wavers
in a quaking spotlight
sigh and silence
the piano picks up
and you begin to sing
ii.
She weaves a net of reality for herself
a cocoon
to keep her safe from
the smell of wet dirt
and a butterfly
sitting of a clump of soil in a potted plant,
injured and drowning slowly in sugared water.
She pulls these strings
together
Binds her soul tighter
and steps out into the dark
iii.
Why do what you do not love, darling?
Or do you love it,
pain aside?
An exquisite torture
timebomb ticking
off the seconds of exposure
Did the light blind you, child?
You are as much me as I ever was
Never was much
iv.
Resounding rejoinder and lament
a pure voice tainted
high in clear air
Your flight is arrested
cresting clouds and love and beyond
the horizon
a new world is waiting
opening
in strong lights
the curtain pulls aside
and you own this stage,
like my soul,
as yourself.
