scratching

a curious thing happened today -
a certain uncertainty was broken.
when show time came, the ghosts of stages past were nowhere.

the set and audience weren't particularly large
but there was just this something different.
rehearsals drove our lines into memory so much so
that even the accompanying emotions were dangerously becoming thoughtless,
threading the fine line between spontaneity and something over-rehearsed.

nonetheless, it all seemed like a blur
from start to finish, unfolding like nature's clockwork
barely scratching the surface of memory
before it was time to take a bow
satisfied and suitably unyoked

now, how does becoming a totally different person on stage,
help one in life off-stage?
which is more real? or is the reality of either situation equally authentic?