The Late March Evening

The man he plays is pensive,

regretting the grays of reflection

in the bathroom mirror.

The man he plays is penitent,

moving slowly today, aching in joints

from drink that made him wobble.

The man he plays is charged,

driven by Doug and Lou, and the spirit 

of the trickster coyote.

The man he plays knows love,

and doles it awkwardly out, to 

his lady, his students, and fellow strangers.

The man he plays feels the heat

of the lights of the stage, and the ticking

of his remaining time.

The man he plays thinks of the curtain, 

that follows the cheers, before the darkness

and a going home, 

and the man he plays is pensive.