that which is hidden behind
two closed doors; you must not
set up bright cadmium lights,
must not touch the black velvet
curtains. if you dare, the secrets
are revealed, the mystery
disappears, in a puff of smoke,
a flash of mirrors. it is only I
and you, alone on an empty stage,
battered floorboards, patched
velvet. we bow, and turn away.
in the moment of saying
goodbye, love blooms sudden
and sharp -- a fistful of bright knives,
an explosion of colored silk.
*****
A friend of mine is going through a break-up right now. I wrote this years ago, but was thinking of it today.