Soundlessly in the middle 
      of the stage
Straining and sweating
Pushing down with both arms 
   Pushing and pushing 
	the concert finale
Careful not to make a single sound

   Standing up, spreading arms
an indication of completion 
   Stunned silence in return 
All are waiting for the bomb blast
 Remembering all the high points
      of the slippery past
   On the moldy floor all life crawling
       Back stage 
Head on the realistic fake hearth
        the pike
   A pretend home
      filled not with love
Deep in the forest
  Where the poison coffee
     Waits with the angry bear
Ready to rend the flesh
      Inside and Out
   An innocence long lost

Between the drivers legs
  Of this metallic blue 
     Olds convertible 
Sits the six pack
         half gone
The fuel gauge reads
      Empty, again   Silently pushing

This special light on the piano
     Makes depression just …
         disappear 

July 12, 2024 SGL Brunswick, ME