Last Soliloquy

I stand solitary on the stage devoid of any set or fancy façade only the Cabernet colored curtains I used to stroke to alleviate my anxiety soothed by the feeling under my fingers of the smooth texture of the velvet The varnished boards beneath my feet creak as I peer out over the empty seats the last rows below the balcony swallowed by shadows the sound of my voice echoing off the old plaster walls of the auditorium torn down a decade ago to build a McDonald’s for culture can’t satisfy starving stomachs I deliver my last soliloquy recalling every line from memory after all these years The sound of the final syllable fades followed by silence sinking its serrated teeth into my psyche like Nosferatu draining my dreams of what little lifeblood remains before I wake but it’s better than boos