Many Acts On An Empty Stage

The light fades on the stage ... the audience makes its way home
Fear subsides in the ranks of the performers
They become again ordinary men and women
The performance gaining stunning review this week .... to be forgotten
As the cue sheets turn to dust ... in time.
And when the last note dies, the musical score becomes a part of the past
In the future, repeat performances will never be the same
Nothing will ever be as unique as the first time
Even when enactments copy word for word the lines
It will never be the same as the first time around.

The performance ... any performance for that ... are a once in a lifetime thing
Patterns in the fibres of life unique ... random strands impossible to repeat
Expressions in the ether ... thoughts in motion ... gone in an instance
The chance of perfect replication ... an impossible feat
For too many factors ... too many outside forces ... impossible to reproduce.
The way an actor was thinking shaping the mood in motion ...
The emphasis of a word ... governed by the depth of feeling at the time
Where the actor stood on the stage ... the time it took to move from step to step
Factors impossible to comprehend ... the uncontrollable ... the indecipherable
Because no human can ever remember every thought ... every emotional step ...

Turning now to the greatest act of all ... the theatre of souls ... in life
The same can be said there ... with the mighty blueprints on high
Those scripts souls muse upon before they walk the board walks of mortal life
No two souls can act a part the same ... all life paths are unique ...
Never will two ever be the same ... never will mortal reactions overlap
Fear manifests at every twist and every turn ... few can ignore its hold
Even the best of intentions are distortions affecting those on that stage
Unique patterns in the ether then ... impossible to repeat those times
Even after assessment of cause and effect ... even with divine insight ...
All entwining fibres ... patterns too unique to reproduce ...

Too many cross roads; too many choices; too many combinations
Unique permutations guided by outside forces; too many factors to control
Actions guided by lower mind consciousness ... reactions by the unthinking
No it is safe to say ... all paths wandered by the travellers of life ....
Are unique signatures across the black and white tapestry of human experience
And then when the light fades ... and those actor souls return
Theirs is just another interpretation of a blue print written so long ago
So many times and so many faces ; it is impossible to determine the relevance
No point now ... no need now ... for the mortal stage is a game to play
Nothing more ... an empty stage to wander since the audience left so long ago ..
(Matthew James)