William Poulos: ‘Get Off Stage’

Get Off Stage

An opera’s final act often presents
A tenor who, having received a blow
Forceful enough to leave a tank with dents
Keeps yodelling as he goes down below,

Embarrassing himself because his song,
Diffusing splendour through the budding air,
Is beauty which makes pain and death seem wrong,
As if he’s got another life to spare.

Maybe he’s singing to Elysium,
The song his entry to the angels’ home.
But what’s left for the man who’s almost dumb
Knowing that these few words might end his tome?

Only the knowledge that it’s time to go,
To get off stage and let the others sing,
To exit from this iridescent show
And make space for a younger, wiser king.

The crowd is tired of this melody
And all the houselights sting with their full white;
Take your last bow, pack up, collect your fee.
Hang on, do I hear “encore”? Oh, alright.

William Poulos