I've played this part before
heard this story a hundred times
with different people
and different scenery
but always I recognize the plot
and even most of the dialogue
and the ending is always
always
the same
nothing changes except the players
and even then I am constant
(who better to play the part
I've done it so oft before
I always know my lines)
it's a traveling tour
as I wander from city to city
and then back home
now to play it again
and listen to the same old soundtrack –
I could write the whole score from memory –
maybe I've tried to play different parts
but every audition results in the same cast
she and I or
I and she
or any other variation of the theme
(perhaps a second he
or a second she)
so when will it be
the final performance
last curtain call
bows, kill lights, exeunt omnes
I've done this play before
in a different theater
let me enact something else

09/28/2001

Posted on 09/28/2001
Copyright © 2025 Gary Hoffmann