Poem: One Soul

One Soul

 

yesteryear

not so climactic after all,

romps of drama on the ropes,

masks over a stubborn gallows

waiting, waiting, always waiting in the wings

as i parade

through all kinds of fantastical plays,

such prescribed mazes with cued lines.

 

and when i look back i see

plywood walls of fairy castles--

what can never be again,

no matter who i am supposed to be now.

 

all of it dancing along, singing,

through the hardships and joys,

near dooms sticky and brutal,

near monsters slayless and hungry.

 

always so close

and yet somehow, here comes love, yet again,

and so i dive again and again,

for the danger and the joy,

the honor, the wept kiss.

 

i do it because i've done this escape before.

even though it all ended forever--before.

 

i've seen the face of death.

so so so so so so many ways.

 

all the games, though, and the laughs

and the lack-of-boredom and tears

they circle in the roundabouts,

and yes it’s always about that stage, 

turning, turning, till i've had so much,

and now i'm finally ready to leave.

 

finally.

 

that finale.

the inexpressible, the inescapable.

the burning of the script.

the act to end all acts, finally,

for the very first time.

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"And one soul in its time plays many parts."