on stage

 

onstage

     

there’s all that waiting in the wings

other people’s time   for you nothing

just a twinkle in someone’s eye and then

led to what you believe is centre stage

not yet spotlit   the lights coming up

taking an age the crowd restless

and so many extras

and those first-night nerves that last

a lifetime even with all that prompting

and such a short run   a premiere

an unending rehearsal ending

in Act VI   the curtain closed

the auditorium empty

the stage in darkness

the caretaker’s

turning of the key

 

everyone has gone home

gone to the after-party

uninvited

alone

in wonder

in wonder

 

in the atlas of my body

there is the country of me

a kingdom where I rules

we suppose the heart

its beating of life of love –

can life love live in the meat

the muscle of a ticking clock?

or the brain? that tissue of lies

of lives the story the pathology

of the diseased the narrative

breadcrumbs once upon a time …

a sneeze and therein the mind

find it scan it X- ray the map

X marks the spot buried treasure

 

look in the mirror each day   trace

the quiet betrayal as the body deserts you

stare at the intimacy of DNA

the flag the coat a little worn

a hand-me-down cut to fit

its subtle disguise you   you

a passerby passing by

looking for direction

crossing borders heading west

hitching a ride in a cul-de-sac

for which you are the map

and there you are at the back of the bus

staring out the window at the scenery

in wonder