A closet

drama unfolds and

I watch you flit

and flicker

Sometimes

I cast you as the star

A shade

on the stage

Other times

the opening act. A body

to step over

and tread the boards

at a third-rate vaudeville

review.

But

you always return

as the critic

aloof

and cruel

then leave

at intermission

In silence I return

to the magic of the

lantern, a phantasmagoria

upon the wall