Performing = Life

Hush, Hush The house must be open The crew will scurry Like bats awoken The actors in their room With bulbs spitting bright light All getting ready For the big night On their faces They wear masks To give birth to the character They have hatched Masks of makeup To help their story be told Wrinkles for the old Strong cheekbones for the bold Hush, Hush It’s almost time For the call of “places” And to start the climb The stage, A sacred place Where the present time stops Where the story’s time takes its place A roar of voices behind the grand drape The pressure seeps in Through your temples And down your nape It plunks into your stomach Where the butterflies flutter And try to escape Run to the mirror And behold, Not a nervous face reflected But a character waiting for her story to be told Then, The curtain opens And you feel a warm glow Surrounding you in a blanket And you never want to go All regret that may have existed Has drained away to almost nothing And purpose has persisted For as he claps, Exits through the house doors, Drives home with his family, And walks familiar floors If I’ve done my job right He’ll lay awake in his bed With the story we’ve told Still dancing in his head.