He’s a jester, an actor,
An entertainer
Pulls the heart strings
Attached to him and her,
And that over-there girl.
Receives a Laughing applause
And then he’s off
The one who needs
To please
Knows a little about all things,
And keeps his secrets…
Secret.

[she sits among a crowded
audience
and waits her turn
to catch his oblivious focused eyes]

He’s a dancer, on top
Of it all
Steps his bare feet gracefully
Between the aisles
And seats
Bows before his begging
Spectators
Treating them all the same
And in return, they fade and gray
And match each other in every way.

[she can feel the color pouring
out her fingers with each clap
as she blends in amongst
his many visitors
and hears him whisper in her
ear
all the things he knows she wants
to hear]

His show is one
Of comic and romance
His feet have memorized
The steps to this dutiful dance
And the audience always
Throws him more than
He needs
especially her, that average
Normal graying girl
He could take anything and
Everything
But still make her wait her turn
Before she hears what’s been
Rehearsed.

[and she can only imagine when
the curtains close
how he must rest his eyes, and breath,
and know,
what a wonderful, spectacular, pleasing show
he managed to so expectedly pull
and while the crowd begins
                                to leave their seats
                                exit the theatre and discolor the streets
                                she sits.
                                She sits and stares at the finale’s mess
                                Of silence, and empty, and loneliness]

Well, he props up his feet
And rests his voice
Closes his performer’s eyes
And stays inside
His star-door house.
Content and unfeeling and oblivious
It must be easier to perform the show
And never once have to know
What it’s like to be you, and self
Exposed.

[she waits
mouth dry, and disgusted
her mind turning and folding
and constantly ignored
her hands feel lonely
and empty, and she
squeezes them numb
then the lights turn off,
the music fades, the
doors are locked
but the girl
                and the
                emptiness
continue
                to wait]