BLITHE
HEART
(Metromaniacs, Shakespeare Theatre, 13 February
2015)
Blithe
heart
you’re
acting strange.
These
lovebirds’ Act One phase
with
fancy turns of phrase
and
brainless rhymes seems artifice
then
goes where misdirection
forms
a masked ball’s timed
surprise.
They
switch their roles
en
pointe but degagé,
inhabitants
of trumped-up rooms
and
flashy peau de soie costumes.
Yet
silliness on stage finds
echoes
in your space --
a comic
sympathy
for
scribblers who fail to see,
whose
sight is blurred
by
diction and cliché.
Cartoons
they are; but what we all
may
be – dim seekers
in
an antic wood, whose love
when
puckered masks are dropped
might
be for art; might be
a
player’s made-up part.
From Poets Are Present: An Anthology, Shakespeare Theatre Company, 2015