Friday, February 22, 2013

From the Empirical Archives: To Perform by Maude Larke


To Perform
Maude Larke

PHOTO: John Abella


Originally Published in the August 2012 Issue of Empirical



you see the staples and nails
paint and glue
the grave decision
of which color to buy

you see the smeared make-up
and the smeared make-believe
you know she isn’t a swan
you know his face isn’t white

you see the sweat
feel pain and panting
you know how hard-used
the floor has been
rosin ground into the wood
by spinning toes
attached to aching legs

but on the other side of the threshold
of a flimsy cardboard arch
lie color and sound and light
and a dream that is waiting
for its princes and dragons to arrive

you leave the smudgy realities behind
and enter through the doorway
you join the color
give the light
and you become the sound

and for a short while
you are an animal
a toy
a feeling
for a while
you are

you are
as the dream
engulfs the stage
the way a cloud will dwarf a mountain

and everyone becomes
a dream
with you



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