Charles Simic, 'Cameo Appearance'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Cameo Appearance

I had a small, nonspeaking part
In a bloody epic. I was one of the
Bombed and fleeing humanity.
In the distance the great leader
Crowed like a rooster from a balcony,
Or was it a great actor
Impersonating the great leader?

That's me there, I said to the kiddies.
I'm squeezed between the man
With the two bandaged hands raised
And the old woman with her mouth open
As if she were showing us a tooth

That hurts badly. The hundred times
I rewound the tape, not once
Could they catch sight of me
In that huge gray crowd
That was like any other gray crowd.

Trot off to bed, I said finally.
I know I was there. One take
Is all they had time for.
We ran, and the planes grazed our hair
And then they were no more
As we stood dazed in the burning city,
But, of course, they didn't film that.

by Charles Simic

Comments

[med_cat]

Indeed...