Sleeper (Poetry)

The whole of life an act — the unnerved art
of losing an entire identity — and keep it
hidden deep inside an alias — submersed
the abandoned lonely soul shut in — revived
as a strange legend — fully-scripted — learned by heart
with telling lines repeated day by humdrum day
thus the relentless lie becomes more true
than the truth lost — with every confirmation made
                                on cue.

A continuous performance — the ultimate ‘long run’
no time off-stage — no brooding in the wings
for someone somewhere’s watching every move
waiting for the clever mask to slip
a fatal inch or two — reveal the well-rehearsed charade
with the fluffing of a speech — a trip — or worse —
a sudden corpsing in the middle of
a vital scene — unravelling the plot.

Grey on grey — the years of falseness fade and blend
perceptions of reality and fiction — the character expertly contrived
so it’s all the world’s allowed to see or hear —
memory’s a ghost — the puppet’s playing let’s pretend for real
his sleeping skills both curse and gift —
now he cannot bear to dream — or think or feel
he ever might have been somebody else — he knows the awful risk
so he fools his own mind, too — stays focused and perfects
his cover until he can feel safe — believe it’s possible
no trace of who he used to be exists.