The Theater After The Performance Of The Actors.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

AT THE BEGINNING
and the end
there is always the
curtain that
rises and falls
where the lights are
turned off
where all the characters
dissolve
in silence

not even a hush shall
disturb the propriety of
an ending
where everyone must leave
in the glare of the
lights...

and what do we have
there?
an empty theater
the usual silence
and the
warm air of all
departures...


you must know the players
left in there
the rats, the cockroaches,
the lice,
the termites and all those
that keep on
eating one another
for their
very own survival....