A Kind of Brilliance

she lingers alone
and in the dark
she waits her cue
she enters from the wings
sheʼs a spectre (tempest) in the footlights she illuminates the night
she promises everything
so she bows at her reception clutching roses
like redemption
petals falling at her feet
and i admit
it requires
an exquisite
kind of liar
a kind of brilliance to believe
critics fakes and cheap alcohol mumbled clumsy dialogue would never bring her
down sheʼs lost in her soliloquy,
her lonely
bittersweet elegy
to love lost not found while here in the shadows i am bleeding, baby
but you can’t even
hear my voice
all the world’s her stage now
say your lines just like you mean it she’s the playwright
you’re the play now
say your lines
like you believe
just say your lines
and you’ll believe
leave them
to their applause and curtain calls
she says «the play’s the only thing»
and its all such grand theater
when you realize you need her
you’d promise her anything
so if all of our pretending
and make believe happy endings
are as fragile as angel’s wings
donʼt you see
it requires
an exquisite
kind of liar
a kind of madness a kind of brilliance and i believe