The Actor Relents

by practicalspactical

I have been an actor, wearing many faces. Perhaps there was always something plastic about my face — or perhaps the plastic was deeper, closer —

Regardless — I could always play the ape — suit the part to the scene —

And so I’ve gone from role to role, from good review to bad, always bowing, comfortable in masks, tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight —

Still, even an actor relents — it may take years, or decades, or a life, but looking back, I remove my mask, and find another behind it, and another behind that one, and finally, a face, unlined, unwrinkled, but strangely blank — and I wonder —

The wind is cold against my naked face. I reach instinctively for a mask —

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