CYMBALS crash a few wavelengths away
Principally into your ears
And you pray that it will be enough
To keep you awake
For a few minutes
Before the soothing bassoon…
And the violins buzzing swarm…
Your eyes slowly close,
Cradled and rocked by a smooth cello sound

Your body bends slightly forward
While you dream of a flat EKG
Or a flat EEG
Anything flat that would let you
Shut off your eyes, and the system.
Come on!
Your cells cry for renewal
Stop the insult!
Or else! ?
You could grow 100 years old
In a few minutes, erase your total hard-drive
Creating utter chaos.

You could lie down on the dark floor
Right now
Nobody would see you
No-one would care
So says the id

But that would be so rude
The super-ego revolts.

The Ego just waves around
Undulating on the chair
Crossing legs, right on top
For one second,
Other leg up,
Doing its own St. Vitus dance
Echoing the one on-stage

You dream of the trip to the airport
You hang on to that thought,
Only a few more minutes, forty minutes
Are nothing, piece of cake
Maybe you’ll be able to sleep in the car
Close your eyes and let go
Let go…
Let go…
CYMBALS CRASHING AGAIN
Help, help me!
You hang on to the flash of an arm, a leg
Appearing in your vision field
How can they be so alive on stage?
How can they not feel like you
The whole world nodding off
Shutting down – how is that possible?
Not to feel it?

Turn to the monitor screen on your left
Hoping that the neck movement
Will hold you up, awake
A tenth of a second
Before your whole being relaxes again
Into deeeeeeep sleeeeeep….

Castanets, lovely castanets
Memory from childhood
Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?
Some kind of art aficionado you are!
Guilt guilt – be damned!!

Clap clap, curtain down. You fly.
Somehow you’ll remember this performance for ever
Every precious second of it marked in your memory.

***

I had the privilege, not long ago, to attend the dress rehearsal and the Premiere of the Nutcracker ballet at the PNB in Seattle. I was also offered the unique experience of seeing and hearing it all from the orchestra pit. However, the second night, not due to lack of interest, which is unbounded, but to the time difference (past my bedtime) and too much fun within a short weekend, this is what happened.