Halvard Johnson

Barcelona: A Night on the Town

I work for myself, and have
tickets to the theater even though I do not
know what's playing tonight.

The cheerful usher leads me
to my seat, an aisle seat with plenty of room
for me to stretch my legs.

The actors seem to be making
up their lines as they go. The stage is free
of props, the lighting minimal.

After intermission, some guest
performer has taken over the lead part,
fed all his lines by a prompter.

When the curtain falls, we all
behave ourselves. We slap our hands
together and take our playbills

home and file them with the rest.
A friend calls and asks, "What's playing
at the theater?” “Nothing at All,” I say.

***

***