The doors glow yellow against

the night and inside

the wrists and ankles move

toward gilt-edged doorways

and carpeted welcomes.

The programs stand

in stacks, ready for you

to being Act I and learn

the biographies

through the dimming lights.

Then come the yellow circles

to find this row or that,

to alight on a seat

as the curtain goes up.

First the feet, then more

leg and knee and waist

as the curtain moves.

The rustles fade

to nothing and the ahems

choke behind fists

as the ripple spreads.

Suddenly

the lights appear from all

directions, all colors

and there on center-stage

the action flows.

as the crowd becomes wall-

flowers to this

end.