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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