STAGECRAFT

(noun) Def: A definition OR an evasive a defiant assertion OR an attempt at the continuous ,,,elision,,, of oneself maneuver

I perform mostly to an audience of one because, unfortunately: We require an audience.

I explicate myself “ I perform ” “ gyrations ” to the “ public ” linguistic stripteases draped in velour bending my tongue in contortionist knots I make ambiguity quiver like a dancer in the cage

STAGECRAFT

Thomas Wee

beckoning mocking imploring like onstage at the Globe the air:

(horse manure, unwashed souls, chloroform, dung)

I stand getting pelted by roses and occasionally spat upon by groundlings in the pit

if someone transitions in a forest: is it still a transition? is the univocal, uni-vocal affirmation of oneself [ ululations in an open field a voice shaking the trees ] enough?

could gender just be a poem written to the wind?

Originally published in Quarto as part of a larger chapbook