Best Backstage Poems
Learned lots of things in theater workshop class
I was surprised when I learned I had passed
Just one tool I'd not mastered
The great Nail Gun Disaster
I had nailed the director in the _ss
Entry for PD's latest limerick contest. Written June 6, 2012
Thumbs wiggling on east wing, backstage
lines skipped like a broken record
with trails of script on hand, sweat poured,
pale rose-in-waiting was I on moist page
Theater brimmed as crowds filled seats, agaped
bright spotlights roamed, my eyes rehearsed the words;
thumbs wiggling on east wing, backstage
lines skipped like a broken record
Panting fast, I tucked wired nerves in head's cage,
that as curtains blew, this name was soon called
recalling to breathe, my flesh was in crazed rage.
Wait! "Clear dry throat; focus on scenes contoured",
Thumbs wiggling on east wing, backstage.
, ,,,,,, ,,
*anxiety experienced before performing
the role of Medea on stage.
* Rondel form: consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains
and a quintet,rhyming as follows: ABba abAB abbaA.
The capital letters are repeats.
Posted under rondeau
for Susan's Wait Contest
19 July 2012
Behind my smiling, gleaming face,
Lie depressions unspoken,
Completely untold and unveiled.
Behind the felicit mask,
Stream tears of blood unstoppable.
The result of pains, unbearable pains.
And the leftover vague illustrations,
Of the runaway happiness
Which too…
Are only spondant memories.
Don’t judge a face
By the huge smile it stocks
Because behind the curtains
Swirl the fogs of grief…
…Of unemerged, untold unhappiness
This is the backstage of a smiling face,
So looking “jolly” face.
FATIMA KHAN
Hey. Maybe he should take a bow
(All new prospects watching now)
So he's played the part before
Exits never leave him bored
Exits are his cry his cry for proof
Better safe then sorry now...
Not for him some ordinary girl.
You're a bit player in a one man show
If you're confused, get use to it
You haven't seen his acting yet...
He'll act and act (and believe)
You really had a say in this
He'll ask exactly what you think
Then blame your faulty reasoning
So maybe you should take that bow
A graceful exit beats a deathwatch now
No, of course...I don't know everything
(I'm just some ordinary girl)
But better safe then sorry now
He loves to leave
It makes him safe, keeps you brief
All new prospects, they're watching now
Let them break a leg, you take that bow
That's all it was
a backstage argument
a backstage brawl
a backstage heartbreak
a backstage backhand to the face
that's all it was,
a scream from the angels above
to be let out and feared among everyone.
She went stage left
and I went stage right
as the curtain went down
the audience applauded
and the lights faded
and that was it was,
one night, a backstage brawl,
fists flew
and kisses were denied
and black eyes were everywhere.
Smartasses lost their wits,
protecting her,
and they found themselves
getting up off the ground.
I was lost and gone,
angels screamed, "STOP IT!!"
But they told me to stop,
and I didn't because I didn't want to.
Dumb girls
dumb fools
protecting dumb girls
and I was the only smart one,
to stand up and not get my heartbroken,
breaking noses and cutting eyes in half
with fists full of fury,
I couldn't handle it much anymore.
STOP IT! still rings in my head,
but I don't care anymore,
I hate them
and they hate me,
I'd rather be loved by myself,
than to have another love me
just to have them stab me in the back later.
All snakes in the grass... cant even imagine,
what beautiful gardens they lay low in, ready to attack...
And that's all it was,
a backstage brawl,
away from the audiences eyes,
now that would be a show to perform.
Real life.
A Wilderness of Mirrors. I am unfamiliar with Iron Maiden's music, even though I worked a handful of times at their concert. I was curious about their mascot guy...Eddie. At one of their concerts, they had a bunch of Eddie dolls in boxes, and they left them there, and all the stagehands got one. One time, I took the drummer, Nico McBrain, to the music store, and he got a grip (a double handful) of drumsticks with some gaff tape around them. When we got back to the venue, he said to me that if I ever needed something, just let him know. I guess just for taking him to the store. So I said I could use a pair of autographed sticks. He thought about it for a second, then waved his arm and said, "O,K. follow me! He led me to a large road case that had four locks on it, it was full of, "cool stuff", and he got me a pair of sticks in cellophane with his signature wood burned into them, and a couple of Iron maiden wrist sweat bands and one Iron maiden head sweat band. If I had to guess what the title, A Wilderness of Mirrors, is about, I would think it has to do with the audience and how they send such energy. I remember many times hearing bands say that how good the concert was, depended on how good the audience was~I always liked the English bands, they seemed to have more depth, and they talked so cool!