The actor in his element is just that
An actor
Without that his name is no less of a character than King Arthur or Romeo
The ease at which his smile can dissipate could shock the most stoic onlooker
But that's it, isn't it?
The stage
The world is a show
And no matter our talent we are background characters to our own stories
Doomed to an uncaring audience's sarcastic applause
There is never a curtain call
For we only ever hold a handful of scenes
It's simultaneously opening and closing night to a show with no script
The directors are throwing curve balls and we are constantly outshined by those next to us
There is no rehearsal
We are improvising the first and last impressions to lines that will never be heard again
When our roll is done
There is no blackout
They tell us the show must go on
But they never said that it would go on without us
As new actors step in to the parts we left behind
"Do you fear the final curtain call"
"Do you fear that these will be the last applause to grace your stage?"
They ask
My reply is No
I have no fear for the closing curtain
Nor the dimming lights
I never shuddered for the idea of taking a bow
but rather the thought of bowing out
Receding to the darkness of an empty stage as my gaze overlooks a sea of crowding individuals peering back at me
Me
With no breath in my lungs
No words in my mouth
A character peeled from his actor
No more than a husk
As His truest nature is exposed in this
The vast emptiness of the darkened stage
Resembling more of a locked door to the room where he allows himself to be this
The door has been opened and broken down before
yet it remains the same
empty
His character
empty
His solitude
what he understands
that which lies beneath
In secret he craves it
The ease of eternal isolation
His longing to put away the key to the door and forget it forever
To hurl these thoughts of words that could never be spoken to ears whom never have thought the same
So he stays front
Center stage
Concealer makes a smile
While the mask hides his shame
YOU ARE READING
3am Anthology
PoetryA collection of poems and intrusive thoughts I wrote late at night when I couldn't sleep Note: Most of these were written while I was in a darker place in my life. Things have mostly gotten better for me and these thoughts no longer plague my mind a...
