The Show Must Go On
Not a line is left
of this player's love,
no drunkard's laugh
no drunkard's laugh
not a scene or shape
to shift
or spark to lift.
When you've pulled
the punctured heart,
the punctured heart,
when my motley mask dries,
another fool will come to wear it
another curtain rise, another starlet bare it
to the house, and overplay the part.
~August 2012
A little drama with 55 bells, and motley
for the g-man
Optional Musical Accompaniment
Image: Jester Mask White and Gold, by royblumenthal on flick'r
Shared under a Creative Commons License
You really come into your own on the second stanza here especially- I especially like implied "it" with the starlet. The rhyme works very well too. k.
ReplyDeleteps - and all, remarkably, in 55 words. k.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it must. Some eager understudy will take on the persona while the original seethes in the wings. (S)he will not speak the lines "trippingly on the tongue" nor feelingly. All fans, all truth, will suffer when the artist leaves the stage. We will disrupt the show to get her to "do it again." Sorry, but it is so.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah on the stage your replacement is ready and has been dreaming and probably plotted your accident that paved the way...hehe...and they will suck you dry til then....
ReplyDeleteOh that sounds ominous! thanks for a neat story-
ReplyDeleteWhen the show is over, what is left but to leave the theatre?
ReplyDeleteThe emotion of this poem is strongly felt.
Thanks, Kerry. I don't know if you agree, but sometimes I think the shorter a poem is, the more the emotions/images/ideas have to be honed to be conveyed. That's why I find the short forms so compelling.
DeleteJoy, an excellent write!
ReplyDeleteAnother great musical selection. The videos that you choose are nice too. They've kind of been in the cobwebs of my brain. Man,those two could really write. Killer lines throughout. "In the morning you gunnin' for the man who stole your water...." The sitar and organ. So good.
ReplyDeleteYeah--the lyrics in Steely Dan are always kind of throw away great, to me--and their early work is more pop, but later the jazz sort of takes over, which makes for an odd combination, jazz tunes usually having very simple, if any, lyrics. One of my faves of their later ones is Babylon Sisters. Glad you enjoyed, Scott.
DeleteI love this. Life, all got up for it's brief moment center stage. So many images and scenarios came to mind as I read this.
ReplyDeleteI love this! There is always someone there waiting to take over.
ReplyDeleteThe new actor is always trying to one up the previous actor... or at least make it his/her own. There are a few who will give a nod to previous actors think Batman/ Keith Ledgers to Jack Nicholson and Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music... or anyone who wants to sing "Don't Rain on My Parade had BETTER fashion in someway Barbara Streisand or most people will be very unhappy!...
ReplyDeletebut like Brian says, the day a leading actor is sick on Broadway, one person is thrilled! :)
and "when my motley mask dries,
another fool will come to wear it"
Well, some barely let that mask dry before trying it on ! :) Nice, theatrical ponderings. The best of friends can be made behind the scene... but so can the biggest rivalries.
This poem says it all, "when you've pulled the punctured heart"......and yes, another willing fool steps forward to overplay the part.......great writing, Joy. It really IS compelling, the more so for its brevity, as every word does its precise work.
ReplyDeleteThis is haunting. Extremely well done.
ReplyDeleteIs your last name Shakespeare?
ReplyDeleteThat was so Bard-Like it was Spooky!
Loved your Thespian 55 JA...
(Applause, Standing ovation)
Thanks for playing, and have a Kick Ass Week-End.
PS...Love Steely Dan!
(Ya gotta love a group named after a Japanese Dildo..hehehe)
Sad, true, and sad again.
ReplyDeleteA little jewel of a poem, complete and beautifully formed.
ReplyDelete"another fool will come to wear it
ReplyDeleteanother curtain rise, another starlet bare it"
So good, Hedge!