Throughout, the days of summer will be portrayed
by tiers of bells wheeled across the stage.
From the beginning the intensity
will be rivaled only by bulbs slapped
and burning brightly before burning out.
Plucked chickens lowered on ropes
will be understood as meaning disaster
just as the old man laboring over the message
will be understood as a king laboring over a message.
I can see I’m going to have to start over.
I don’t know which of Melissa’s cast parties
was the best, the one with the mannequins
or the one with the chickens on ropes
or the one where we arrived just as the cops
cruised up and we walked past, flimsy
with our contraband, our faces hot
beneath the masks. You won’t believe
what I went through to get her back.
All of you, over there!
We put right angles of tape on the stage,
color-coded. Throughout the summer they love each other.
She was brokenhearted about the binoculars.
The going-to-hell scene would be done with saxophones,
given budget limitations.
What else could all the green velvet mean
and that couch with the lion’s paws?
Such simple things: glass, rope,
left to right. Just tell me where I stand.
We sat not talking, the list of numbers between us.
I kept waiting for the fierce dogs to come from the fog
or I love you I love you I love you.
We built the fire carefully but were completely
unprepared for the red triangle. Then I lost her
in the smoke. Again. Then I lost her.
Try it without the sword. I lost her.
No starting over now.
Your seat is B-33. Your seat is DD-9.
Everyone agrees that the pomegranate
makes all the difference, and worse, on the sixth night,
Bill forgot and only a banana could be quickly found.
Imagine a whip instead of the binoculars
or a lily or a small girl with an oar.
They sat not looking at each other.
Already trees losing leaves.
Now what, she cried but it was more a projection
of her crying, you could see the exit lights
through her forehead. Lost. And in desire
to sing like a tree losing its leaves.
Is this how it ends? she asks, bunching up
her coat. I held the little flashlight
disguised as a candle that made me feel holy
just as the white gloves made me feel
invulnerable and nearly vanished.