Thursday, December 13, 2007

Dress Rehearsal


DRESS REHEARSAL

Kathy has a nice ring to it,
the better part of Katherine,
which rolls off the palate
like the name of a princess;
or when you know the lady better,
it can become Kate,
whom we all know,
after the taming
became an excellent mate.

Oh yes,
there have been other Kathys
layered deep in the mosaic
of my past,
but in the passion play
that is my life,
Kates have never found themselves
cast.

Now
there is a Katherine,
standing in the wings,
with her hands folded neatly
over the velvet pleats
of her full skirt,
her tiny fingers playing
with the flowers on her spring hat.

I would call herKat,
if she'd permit;
her dark lovely eyes
matching my garish gaze.

I stand strong
downstage center
within my sphere.
I beckon for her to join me,
where the lights are hot,
the peripheral darkness
total,
and there is an audience;
their invisible bodies
radiating passion clear across
the pale proscenium,
their pleasure an animal
that I can touch.

I am used to standing out there,
parading like a peacock;
but I know
that makes me appear to be
flippant with my favors,
and too cynical with my heart.

Fear not,
fair lady,
for I am so much more
than I appear to be.

There is warm skin
under the silken sash,
tenderness
beneath the flesh,
compassion
buried in the ash,
and an actual soul
behind the moustache.

So,
as you stand in the shadows,
peering into the mysterious East,
dreaming of the journey
that you still have to take,
let me,
for my sake,
hold your hand;
let me furnish your fertile mind
with the purity of
pastoral techno proletarian images,
that you will need,
helping to prepare you
for the joy
that is to come.


Glenn Buttkus 1987

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