The knife
is pulled out of the back.
The poison is spat out
& the dead come back
they stand
before us
joyful
& our joy joins theirs
like waves
that crash
upon the sands
of our senses
& Time turns back
to the ordinary moment.
We stand
& clap.
These our actors
(which we see before us)
take their bow
soak up
the applause
& dash behind
the safety of the curtain
that has come down
between their world & ours.
We enter into
the coldness of the night
our beaths
like spirits
speaking for us
the actors' dreams
still clutched like flowers
in our hands
& wander on
drawn now
to the lovely laughter
of our Hamlet
eating chips
with Ophelis
& her friends.
And so, our play
ends.
Dónall Dempsey
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/chips-laughter/
