Actor
Silence falls like a velvet bell,
clapperless–a rehearsal only–
but reverberant, quivering
like a kitchen table
slammed to wall, slabbed
fist, smashed
bottle, strangled ululation of
throat-stoppered
sob–till “super,”
calls the director (like a conductor turning
triumphant after the loosening
of that final orchestral knot), “just great.
Take five, guys. No,
better make that ten.”
Lights blink (gaze after
dark) and the younger actor, the one
who still holds a cowering
balance, left hand upon center stage, half-
topples, shaking his head, “whoa man, that was
smokin’.”
And the veteran,
because emotion can never
be old hat, reaches quickly
to his propped fedora, swiping below the brim, his forehead,
eyes, as he pulls himself across that bridge of
craft, which has supported his shape,
voice, the planned span of time and space, like borne traffic,
but where he truly reaches is
deep into the flow below that bridge, a burning artery
that runs from lungs to loins, through longing
and blood lust and
the softest murmur of the heart, this Lethe
where he loses himself
on cue. So,
he wipes its damp
onto the back of one hand as he reaches
the other to help up his fellow player, hazarding
a smile.
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Poets! Question : I have redone the first line about twenty times–I had “Silence falls like a velvet bell,” and I’ve now gone back to it! I had had Silence knells a velvet bell,” then “Silence rings a velvet bell,” “silence tolls a velvet bell,” “silence clangs a velvet bell,” “silence falls like the dome of a velvet bell==” “silence descends like the dome of velvet bell.” Any thoughts?
I am posting the above draft poem for Tess Kincaid’s Mag 123 and also (unless I have time to write something new!) for dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night. Tess posts a photographic prompt; the above is my version of it. (The image is, I believe – though wasn’t conscious of when writing – from Orson Welle’s A Touch of Evil. I am not a big Welles’ fan and really was thinking of any actor.) Check our both Tess’s site and dVerse for wonderful poetry.
AND, if you have time, check out my books! Children’s counting book 1 Mississippi -for lovers of rivers, light and pachyderms. Or, if you in the mood for something older, check out Going on Somewhere, poetry, or Nose Dive, a very fun novel that is perfect for a pool or beachside escape.
ManicDDaily 
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