Dramatis Personae

I don’t know if we’re only beginning
or if this is the end.
They never tell me those things.
All they say is here
take the script
learn it
know it
be on time,
never less than perfect.
But Heartache is sweet to toy with.
Practiced mirror faces of sad happy smile
Make crow’s feet and require

non-cheap wrinkle cream. I sometimes
tell my agent n-o m-o-r-e crazy,
the characters are wearing off on me.
But it just laughs.
We’ll take what they give me , he says and

that’s that. I pour
I pour I pour
Myself into it until there’s nothing left.
Leave it all on

the stage
Is my strong, my true mantra. But it’s days like this that I’m reminded
Life is not a movie, and that this isn’t simply a rehearsal:
“Do you even love me anymore?” she said,
And I’d forgotten my line.