an episodically published poem
link to beginning
Listen
particularly
if it is a one-hander
one actor doing it all
every show has sound
it may be offstage breakage
or footsteps
or a door slamming
or a voice
or wind or rain or thunder
or trumpets
or a crowd
or a passing trumbril
or a wolf howling in the distance
or a cell door closing
or a memory approaching
or a forest fire
or the sound of woodsmen chopping down cherry trees
or a screen door slamming
or an army approaching
or pilgrims passing
or God coming
or the king
or the queen
or the secretary’s heels
or a soldier’s
or a zombie’s
it all comes down to
how you are doing it,
how long
how loud
from what angle
And you do it
so that it is part of the scene
without being noticed
just the way we don’t notice
the sounds you make doing
homework or reading or
coming up the stairs.
Unless
of course
you are the living dead
then we want to notice
Don’t you hate it when that happens?
