Rehearsal

Two strangers, passing texts in the night
characters lauded with hope, expectation
bad punctuation leads to
misunderstanding, misinterpretation kills

Unexpected coffee here the DART
meets the garden of Ireland in the
gray house peppermint tea loose leaf
others in the sieve, americans cools

Dark windows are bright with life
the smile lighting the thespian
between the curtains of black
coils, premiere performance acts.

Irrelevance of time the first acts ends
parking meter limit interval change
the performers move to a new stage
lavender scents between cold fingers

Third act, no anticipated kiss
words don't flow into exchange of lives
no standing ovation, no encore calls
just a rehearsal for a future show.

- Ciaran Burke