Exeunt omnes
Exeunt Omnes is a Latin stage direction,
commonly used in theater and drama, which means
“all (of the characters who are on stage) leave”.

Emptiness glares at the unbemused,
and bemused as well,
the entertainment, reenacting old tales,

has left the stage empty, curtains wide open,

O, hear, backstage, listen,
the next act, this is the set, the empty stage,

O, see, that light came on, soon it must shine
on something we must see, from where we sit,
- a light on an empty set is a Chekovian gun
- it must illuminate, a plotted point…
- replat to arrange room to expand

waiting, imagining someone peeking,
through the fourth wall
from behind the backdrop, counting empty seats,

and finding none not empty, but mine,
where I sit, this is it, I am the attendant paying
attention to the nuance evolving constant artforms,
reactive agents
acting out the gluonic mythos accruing arts
eventual discernment, messages to all who see,
rising mist
hear the outside world through the open window,
stare contentedly into the white noise, listening,
obscuring fog
carried on winds, on which prophets say Jah walks,
wafting down
from the empty stage, to fill
the emptiness between us each, in
a sphere of influence, as it were, as real
as Glenda of the North, oozing after ousia,
epiousiatical usual rational, vital substance

essence of first intention, to tell the truth,
about why any creator's mind makes peace,

the heroic struggle is the truth, per se,
indeed, working out your own salvation,

while involved with fear and trembling
anticipation, hoping to be chosen,

as the sorting hat allows, destination,

local J.C., augmented
by an L.A. County Library Card.

-- in the realm of all seeking sanctioned
American citizen level access to idle records…

some never imaginable incredible proofs lie,
credibility discovered while unbelieving lies,
what a freeman,
wombed or un, is,
believe me, no person in prison, is. That
is believable, while incredible is really not.
Free is lonely.
Believing is an act we are assumed
capable of performing, before we have words,
we are bound up in some kinda love,
or we just fail to become what we could be

as we become, we all pass all our infancy,
without words, that is what an infant human is,

not a pup or a kitten or a chick or a kid,
a wordless form of a flesh encased spirit,

a measure of our whole truth weform, as we
breathe and have our being, our behaviors,

in the medium between empty stages.

VOG  cut the house lights.

My 500th poem, on my 9 year anniversary of writing. Perception of time.

It seems like nothing can humble you
faster than time. It affects everyone,
regardless of race, gender, or age.
And yet, it somehow feels personal
when bad things happen
depending on what stage of life we're in.
But what if it isn't time that changes us.
What if it's our perception of time
that changes us? When we're young,
time seems to move so slow.
But the older you get, all time sees to do
is go, go, go. What if we never lose
or run out of time.
What if it's the stress of living that's committing the crime of breaking us down.

it all started with a single hi
three days, three nights
of unstoppable phone conversations
life lessons from three decades
of each other's existence
then, one midnight
you drive past the city lights
to meet me on the other side..

las cortinas cierran
el escenario está vacía
yo miro la luna en el fondo
estoy hablando tontería
estoy llorando en el piso
es un acto de un solo hombre
así que el lugar está sombrío
y nadie está haciendo nada

The glamour,
the lights and flashes,
the gold and the silver,
I call it home.

Crowds filling the seats,
then the shushing,
then the quiet,
and it starts.

They watch and follow,
little prying eyes,
where your feet goes,
where your fingers glide.

After all,
I'm a performer,
and this is the stage
that I call home.

But who stays
after the velvet curtain call.
When the show is done,
who remembers?

And what is remembered?
Aside from the weary bones,
broken ribs,
and flailing arms.

Who stays?
To sit on the red seats,
in the dark,
to watch a wretched performer?

I only exist
In the words that I write.
I gleefully skip from line to line,
Basking in the glory
Of momentary inspiration.
I slide carefully from key to key,
Drinking in the soft taps of the keyboard,
Manifesting my way
Into the hearts of all people everywhere.
I crave a stage, a crowd, a platform,
A place to immortalize myself,
To form an identity clean of sin,
To raise a new, sanitized, beating heart
From the ashes to the spotlight.
I wish for my name
To sweep the world off its feet,
To be shouted, or whispered,
Or chanted, or cheered.
I desperately want to be someone,
To be known, and loved,
And adapted to the needs of the watcher.
I dream of being consumed, and approved,
And loved, and needed,
So incredibly needed
That I might just allow myself
To exist either way.