The Last Act

POETRY

The Conclusion of ‘Laments of an Affair’

A well rehearsed play —
you set the stage
Me in the foreground, her in the center
You’ve saved the best lies for me
the pretense creates a satire
a parody of four lives
You and I satisfied at their expense
my lover and your wife
and we play out our roles like trained actors
But you’ve forgotten the twist, the turn
that separates our satire from tragedy —
we are all martyrs needlessly sacrificed
The irony!

This is for the best, I say out of cue
Best for whom? You say
Us, I reply on cue, take my bow
and graciously exit stage left —
I return to the dressing room, peel away
layers of recently rediscovered womanhood
conceal open wounds with gauze
and wrap myself in a hermit’s cloak —
I escape the fire, down the back-rung stairs
down the musty alleyway, into darkness

Don’t I hear the echo of your starving sons
pealing through abandoned streets?

©1998 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved.

Poet’s Note: This poem is the conclusion of the prose poetry series, Laments of an Affair. You can read the series here:

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Lori Carlson writes poetry, fiction, personal essays, creative non-fiction, and articles. She focuses on Spirituality, Life Lessons, Self-Awareness, Relationships, Mental Health, and LGBTQ+. She is the Owner/Editor of Promptly Written and Not For Bedtime Stories. You can find her older stories on her creative writing blog, Ravyne’s Nest and random ramblings on her personal blog, A Delicious Torment.

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