The safety curtain creaks aloft
A gradual hush descends
The audience settles to enjoy
The wars and loves of Troy,
Interpreted by relatives and friends.
Between rostra draped in black
The Prologue makes his way.
His echoing voice proclaims
Indifference. Those present may
Digest – if they will –
These noises into a play.
Behind their proscenium arch
The players pace and stroll
Keeping a straight bewhiskered face
In this unfamiliar place
In an unfamiliar role.
Stalled in darkness,
The soilure of two heroines,
A plague of fools and braggarts,
Sets ill at ease
Friends the actors came to please.
But the players stamp and crowd together
Conspire to keep out
Their increasing doubt
The imposture must end.
They repeat the words
That value may dwell
In particular will
Within the hollow echo of the boards.
©Terry Hodgson2020
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