in the beginning was the whisper
of curtains drawn too soon
the stage unlit and yet
somehow luminous

echo echo echo
the laughter of absent gods
and the clattering of roles
written and unwritten

the actors know not
their lines are shadows
cast by spotlights of memory
flickering
like forgotten names

echo echo echo
the audience
invisible and yet
palpable
a sea of breaths held

mistakes become characters
villains in disguise
heroes unraveling
the right wrongs
in a dance of half-truth