Who observes the backdrop
when actors perform?
Entering theater,
sky sunny and clear.
Theatre open air,
beside swift-rippling river,
whose liquid speech flows
in background as story
is presented us,
wrapped in arresting dialogue
where love and death are present
in equal measure. Thwarted desire.
Tragic untimely end.
Departing theater,
distant flashes, rumblings.
Entertainment ends,
set shifts. Now grim backdrop,
where amid never-ending noise,
new life emerges as old decays,
imagination reduced, survival’s material.
Rebellion slow walks concrete path,
daring to rise beyond shadow,
contemplating bare tree, white flowers
cat meditating on felled cypress,
scene of daily enjoyment.
When actors perform
who observes the backdrop?
© Phil Kemp 2026
