Theater Masks

The last item on my
Bucket List
Is to perform
Stand-up comedy
In a small, smoke-filled
50s bar filled
With hecklers,

Though no one
Who has read
My poetry
Would guess.

Fleeting,
Joyous moments
Filled with laughter
Are lived and breathed;
Sorrow and loss
Flow from head to pen
And pencil
On paper
To typewritten thoughts
On the screen,

And humor fills the
Space between
Drops of moist,
Silent gasps of
Horror
As the blinds open to
Reveal strips of light
That cut the darkness
Into more discrete
Threads of self-pity.

© Joanne Cherefko