False Endings

Tip me a wink

Give me a little nudge

When my head drops

It is all too easy to believe

There is nobody there

Weariness descends

Falling with the speed

Of a safety curtain

Behind which I stand

Head bowed.

What lies beyond

Sometimes a laugh

A clearing of a throat

Does an audience wait

Patiently

Is this my final act

A last performance

Pinned in the glare

Of an empty stage.

When the lights

Are turned down, shadows dance

What would happen

Should the spotlight be reversed

What will be found

Hidden in the corners.

If life was less complex

And simply tragic

A stranger would pass the sword.

But should I wait

Upon the completion

Of all mysterious affairs

Then perhaps a Shakespearian

End would blight more than

This life.

False endings

Come replete with paper towels

To dry the eye

Perhaps there is more

Beyond the weighted veil

If I lie befuddled

With little purpose

Other than to die

It might be a wish

Full of regret

Which would come answered

Too late

To be anything

But ill met.