Life grew bland, banal, other B words
she said I need to gather a troupe
of like-minded sufferers
set up some auditions, form
a select band
we'll workshop the basics
characters, costumes
And then we'll act out the rest of our lives together
no need for cameras
or an audience
call it pure theatre
oh the dramas we will have
No it won't be any stranger than
singing in the parlour for friends
without a microphone, a paying crowd
you can call it the folk tradition
Theatre
Something happens I can't explain
It feels enclosed quite like a train
Within its wall you are truly set free
To be yourself or who you want to be It's like, let's pretend, or dressing up
Childlike feelings, they fill your cup
Escaping, distracting the daily grind
You can leave your worries all behind
Rehearsing, sets and stage lights
The anticipation of opening nights
A team feeling for those not so sporty
Rare chance for adults to act naughty
A sense of purpose shared with all
Commitment, a time to stand up tall
Drama, thriller, it is always a farce
Mischief and tears, acting an ****
If you act with respect to all around
A home from home is easily found
In our theatres, dreams come true
This beautiful place is open to you.
The confirmation hearings are low brow theatre
packs of C actors and bitter stone throwers
getting off by degrading-disgracing- humiliating.
Transparency and truth are a pale afterthought.
Do let your children watch the theatre though....
Explain to them that this is how you should never
converse with or treat another human being.
Now, for an encore take them to a playground
leave your cell phone behind
let them teach you the art of play...
all over again.
Night trains' theatre
Saturday to Sunday, after midnight going home, the restaurant closed
Walk to the station, get on Bond Street, the train works, takes me home,
Change at Baker Street from Jubilee line to Metropolitan line, fast walk
In the stations and subways walked people cheerfully, men and women
Time after night, hmm, happy people traveled in the carriage, past time
Hmm, bombastic amazing ladies, they talked cheerfully and just laughed
Night Train movie, this is one of the theatres in my life. Watching the life,
on the trains. People, passengers, young, old, different nationalities
Hmm, colorful existence is a tale in life. Nothing, everything is life.
Wembley Park Station
Arriving to home
The theatre closed
At three 'o clock this afternoon,
A shaft of light pierced my room.
Curtains flung back as I arise:
An actor's life I do surmise!
Working halls and live theatre,
Singing songs in every meter.
Playing Hamlet, then a clown,
Each week it changes in this town.
Tonight my accent is deep Fen,
My entrance scene is played again.
People come to see me ramble,
I am a cop; Inspector Randall.
Bungling cases, then success:
Miss Marple would be so impressed!
I love the clapping of the crowd,
We take our bow, feeling proud.
Then travelling home in my old car
To see my kitten, Balthazar.
The night is cold, it's nearly three,
My kitten is here, on my knee.
I sip some vino, 'Espanol',
The kitten thinks I am his doll.
Razor needles pierce my skin,
But I am calm deep within.
Night owls hoot, it is bedtime,
I finish off my blood-red wine.
Take Balthazar his little toy,
To watch him play is such a joy.
I say goodnight and shut the door
Thinking of tonight's applause:
An aged actor's life to stay.
Tomorrow it's a matinée.
Idols of the theatre,
Glamour of the pages,
Bloom of the meadow,
Glitz of the stage.
They're trailed by lights,
They're haloed and followed,
They're embraced by the day,
They're diamonds in the sky.
It’s not about their sizes,
It’s about the power they wield,
It’s not about the stage,
It’s about their dominance of its space.
Gloom seems to be far from their room,
They seem to have found the missing piece in the puzzle,
Fortune has smiled on them,
They're in the glory realm.
A shopping mall resides where the drive-in theatre used to be
After a long week of school excitement builds for the movie we are going to see
My girlfriend awaits my arrival out on the grass
Trying to spare me from another lecture from her dad happy to pass
The gates open the big screen awaits
Feature film a love story surely to impress my date
Exiting the car into the cold night air
I return with an assortment of goodies for us to share
Horns start honking the speaker starts to vibrate
Trumpeting a night of fun I can hardly wait
Let the show begin as our bodies slide closer together
Another great night at the movies sure to remember
The lines are well rehearsed
The blocking to perfection
No curtain yet to elevate
Audience anticipation
A gentle mist wafts across
The scene is set and ready
Our actors find a mark
Low voices slow and steady
We witness fighting
Friendship, love, a tangle of emotion
The heart it lifts or falls in time
Betrayal and devotion
Death and life parade before
A story twisty-turny
The hero has to test his heart
Through convoluted journey
All characters are woven
The plot line slowly thickens
A tribute to the tellers
Whether Shakespeare, Brecht or Dickens
An interval, a time to breathe
Reset the scene and go
Refresh, review, reconnect
Then on we must; This Show
Jinjagoliath
23rd September
I get off thinking about the terrible things
The thirty-three year old dead beat
Might do to me
In the movie theatre’s basement.
I think about the best ways
That I could cheat on my girlfriend.
My girlfriend would cry.
Sob really.
Moan and groan and tear me limb from soft limb.
And I’d have a smile on my face in a post-****** bliss.
In my fantasies, men can get me off.
Men would want me to be happy.
That’s what it’s like in my fantasies.
Where men are kind
And they love me
And they see me as valuable
In whatever way they choose.
That I am not a child to bear
But a person to know
So I’ll dream about the
Movie theatre basement.
Even when there are warm hands
and a warmer heart waiting for me at home.
Because in my mind’s eye
I am not afraid
Disrupted rough sea ripples shuffle
audience anticipation
Shift in seats, hammered hearts
Pummel, fluffy microphone muffle
confines communication
To thespian garish starring parts
Leading lady stands on X central
scintillating stiff corset
Holds ocean of faces transfixed
Hushed haze of amazed attention
long leg stride endorses
Cancan colourful ruffled kicks
Glitter adds amps to eyes squinted
focus on filmed direction
Glow in spotlight, skin peach orange
Sets character afloat, limelight lifted
dusk dim purple perfection
Transmits her story beyond onstage
Pivot pelvis razzle reactive samba
fast feet choreograph flawless
Flashy features outshine backdrops
For her love, Leading man clamours
resounding auditorium applause
Ensures her ego never lacks props
13th June
Theatrical Resume
(curtain raises)
costumes torn
lighting wrong
make up melts
rehearsals long
missing props
forgotten lines
nervous looks
backstage whines
feuding stars
director puce
sulky looks
uneasy truce
scenery falls
missing cues
singers flat
poor reviews
backstage romance
budget woes
producer quits
big egos
opening night
mistakes are hid
think no one saw
of course they did
run is done
sigh of relief
new show now
see you next week!
(curtain falls)
Fervent as they may be
They’re fake
A ruse
Faces I put on for show
But these faces I am
When I act, these faces I am
Gasps and tears from a wildly crowd
Their applause makes my heart pound
Evoking emotion in one, two people, or an empty theatre
All the same, I’m more than who I am while on stage
These faces I am
When I act, these faces I am
Overture floods sacred seconds
as well-worn dread clings like a
stale apostle before betrayal.
Seat 2 in row N is my island
confessional from which all lies
are learned and recited.
I sit patiently staring at the
crimson curtain that hides all
God’s sainted abominations.
When it finally rises, will there
be redemption, retribution or
ultimate recognition?
Lights slowly fade down in this
hallowed auditorium where
Omega eats Alpha and sleeps.
Billowing velvet floats into night
as a figure enters and silently
stands center stage.
He is my new past.
A sentinel blurred, but certain.
The show has begun.
Wooden mouth eats word and threat.
Frozen eye stares through vaudeville glaucoma.
The master is mimicked, masked, and mocked.
Doll tuxedo stretched from neck to crotch.
Head swivels to whiplash punchlines.
If it’s all in good fun, why do I want to die?
Neck telescopes and voice screeches.
Tears spurt from stage to footlight.
Two are one, yet double of what cannot exist.
It’s nearly there, nearly a man, a malformed thought.
Hanging on the edge of another world.
A fleeting spectre in a funhouse mirror.
Curtain lowers beneath dying lights.
Gathered terrors are delivered home.
Yet tiny footsteps follow behind.
Remember crimson rictus.
Lips move, but words never come.
On cue the final joke falls flat.
My other man was birthed on the back of my son.
My other man was broken in mouth, thought and dream.
My other man was built from torn jigsaw puzzle pieces and self-loathing.
My other man roamed disused houses of neglect.
My other man distorted my face, back, legs and arms.
My other man intended harm.
My other man wanted to crawl inside you.
My other man was my Father.
My other man was my Grandmother.
My other man was my fears inverted.
My other man made others bored.
My other man made others laugh.
My other man made others cry.
My other man made others faint.
My other man made others vomit.
My other man wanted to lead you up the garden path and leave you there.
My other man hated you.
Hated you.
Absolutely.
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