The Actor

You taught us how to make burns look real and fake blood to ooze, you showed us how to enter stage right, which props we should use. You helped us run lines, present thoughts with our faces, you told us to show not tell, put our character work through its paces. But you used that same makeup to cover who you were, roleplaying even after a scene, a sheep in wolf’s fur. You must have rehearsed your ‘hello’ and perfected each smile, adding to your Iago portfolio, another performance to file. You were the teacher, and we were the clay, you bought our attention, now as grown ups we pay. You were the adult when we were the teens - you were the predator, and we the unseen. One night after a show you took my friend home in your car.