“All the world’s a stage…”
I was not even born then, and yet I remember it well. In colorized black and white, that moment—where is it now? It disappeared while we were somewhere over the rainbow.
Those were the days!—drowning in background music, we listened for cues, trying to follow the footlights through the portal. We wanted to capture that perfect world, inhabit it, pretend it into now and forever.
How do we measure a time that never was? We continue as dreams, a montage of cinematic stillness, myth disguised as memory. A voice calls from behind the curtain—is that me? Is that you? We rehearse our scripts of storied pasts, fools exposed by darkness, shadows of artificial light.
searching for signs
we adjust our eyes–
crow in a cherry tree
For NaPoWriMo Day 27, I’ve used the prompt from Frank at dVerse to write a haibun inspired by either Shakespeare or Basho.
Stephen Sondheim turned 90 this year. Another master.
I’ve taken the art from my archives.
K. 
As an ex-actor, turned teacher, then poet, I appreciate your tribute to theater and the Bard. As abstract and clunky as a play can be, there is a power generated by the reciprocity between performers and the audience
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Glenn. It’s a power that you can’t get from anything else.
LikeLike
As alluring en evocative as a lucent dream, with mysterious pathos and longing for a past that wasn’t. So we’ll done, K!
LikeLiked by 1 person
OMG !!! splendid haibun. Thanks for dropping by to read minf Kerfe
Much💙love
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Gillena!
LikeLike
Thanks Frank. This is a really thoughtful prompt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The haiku brings the two together so perfectly – the upstart crow, the cherry tree! I love your haibun of falling short of the artistic dream.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Sarah. This is a good prompt, it worked on my mind.
LikeLike
Love the art–especially the figures in blue–and this is one cool haibun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! That is a very old painting. One of these days I will circle out of abstraction and back to reality. I need a bit more stability in my life though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’ll know when it’s time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do love how you tie this not only to the Basho and Shakespeare but how their words live in our past and the present.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Bjorn. They do.
LikeLike
kaykuala
‘
We rehearse our scripts of storied pasts,
fools exposed by darkness, shadows of artificial light.
Very good close Kerfe. We made discoveries of how very spectacular the works of the Bard that we could see how enormous and all encompassing they are after going through them!
Hank
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Hank. He knew about the task of living, and how we both succeed and fail.
LikeLike
Past and present–the power of theater. It reflects our lives, and we interpret it through our own lenses. Wonderful, Kerfe–Shakespeare, Sondheim–and perhaps a nod to Chekhov with the cherry trees.
Did you watch the Sondheim tribute? I gave up after an hour, but I heard it was fabulous once it did finally come on. I’ll watch the recording.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Merril. The experience of audience and performance is indeed powerful, and keeps resonating. There is nothing like live theater.
I keep forgetting when things are on…I’m terrible with time right now, never one of my strong points anyway. But I hope to see some of it at least.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the way you paint Shakespeare’s drama, Kerfe, the drowning in background music and listening for cues, a swirl of activity and sound. Whether live in a theatre or an outside performance, or captured on film, it is a ‘myth disguised as memory’. You brought the upstart crow and Basho together deftly in the haiku.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Kim. Though different in their approach, both writers were close observers of life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They certainly were. Shakespeare was more interested what makes people tick and their relationships, while Basho focused on single moments.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“How do we measure a time that never was?” I spend a lot time and lines trying to do that, and I don’t know the answer. Very thoughtful piece that wevaes in the presence of the Bard.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I think we all get stuck in time warps, asking questions at different points in our lives.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #4: K’s latest #haibun for #dVersePoets #HaibunMonday!
LikeLike