Everything’s black
Except for a spot
Some people are laughing
The critics are not
They stare at their watches
And not at your show
And then before your best scene
They quietly go
Everything’s wrong
With our you know what
There isn’t an ending
And barely a plot
The writing is patchy
And the cast all miscast
It’s first in the lifeboats
We’re going down fast
And I’m caught in the spotlight
Tonight I’m a falling star
And when it’s so over
I’ll be found in the bar
Trapped in the smoke and the small talk
Alone in my mind
“Well, what did you think of the show?
Forget it, I’d rather not know
Just pour me drink
Don’t say that you think
Why must the curtain come down again
On every show?”
Opening night
And the locusts descend on the feast
The scenery falls down
But it can’t kill the beast
The straight man is funny
And the clown wants to die
And the chorus of dreamers
Are learning to cry
And I’m caught in the spotlight
Tonight I’m a falling star
And when it’s so over
I’ll be found in the bar
Trapped in the smoke and the small talk
Alone in my mind
“Well, what did you think of the show?
Forget it, I’d rather not know
Just pour me drink
Don’t say that you think
Why must the curtain come down again
On every show?”
One more closing night
And dawn comes on time
The butler’s been questioned
For Joe Orton’s crime
My gypsies are waiting
So begin the beguine
Once more I have stumbled and mumbled
My way through the final scene
And I’m caught in the spotlight
Tonight I’m a falling star
And when it’s so over
I’ll be found in the bar
Trapped in the smoke and the small talk
Alone in my mind
“Well, what did you think of the show?
Save it, I’d rather not know
Just pour me drink
Don’t say that you think
Why must the curtain come down again
On every show?”
(C) Frank Howson 2021
Photograph by Raija Sunshine
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