by Sherman Pearl
Looking regal in kingly costume
it strides onto the stage
sure of its lines, confident
its tremulous voice will shatter disbelief,
drown out the balcony's
nattering doubters. The script, concise
as a bumper strip, is pure poetry--
lines that explain
the corruption of culture, the betrayal
of history, the bad weather.
The lighting allows no shadows.
In the glaring clarity
all threats and conspiracies
are exposed, all traitors unmasked.
The set, filled with facades
from less timorous times, is a miracle
of revisionism; the music a symphony
of togetherness, all instruments
in sync with the rousing tempo,
the majestic arc of the maestro's baton.
Harmony resonates from the walls,
the louder the sound the more vibrant
its echoes. The words, intoned
over and over, build to a crescendo;
the audience joins in, converted
into a choir of believers
who rush for the exits, still chanting
the lyrics, then down marbled steps
and into the square
where the simple, out-spoken truth
that fled at intermission
hangs from a lamp post.
Sherman Pearl is a co-founder of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and author of four published collections (most recently, The Poem in Time of War, ConfluX Press, 2005). His work has appeared in more than 40 literary magazines and anthologies (including Sam Hamill's Poets Against the War). His awards included first prize in the 2002 poetry competition of the 2002 National Writers Union, judged by Philip Levine.