Anne Sexton

The Play

I am the only actor.

It is difficult for one woman

to act out a whole play.

The play is my life,

my solo act.

My running after the hands

and never catching up.

(The hands are out of sight -

that is, offstage.)

All I am doing onstage is running,

running to keep up,

but never making it.

Suddenly I stop running.

(This moves the plot along a bit.)

I give speeches, hundreds,

all prayers, all soliloquies.

I say absurd things like:

egss must not quarrel with stones

or, keep your broken arm inside your sleeve

or, I am standing upright

but my shadow is crooked.

And such and such.

Many boos. Many boos.

Despite that I go on to the last lines:

To be without God is to be a snake

who wants to swallow an elephant.

The curtain falls.

The audience rushes out.

It was a bad performance.

That's because I'm the only actor

and there are few humans whose lives

will make an interesting play.

Don't you agree?