After the Applause
The ceremonial hall remains,
after performance,
vascular pains.
Passive assemblies
settle into stubborn symmetry,
awaiting sensation.
Curtains concede
to ritual residue,
folded remembrance.
Petrified and patient plaster,
untold yet ensconced,
holding remnants.
A vertical procession
rests in suspension,
ascension arrested.
Fingertips follow
forbidden yet familial
contours remembered.
Contact conjures continuity,
momentary narrative,
metallic taste.
The proscenium plane
swallows syllables,
language dissolved.
Elevated galleries bear
the burden of breath,
absence listening.
Passage conduits collect
the customs of crowds,
movement remembered.
Movement murmurs
through monumental absence,
echoes evaporate.
No gathering convenes,
only passage,
only perception.
The weary work
of witnessing continues,
between sensations.