You agree to stand
in the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They agree to sit
in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Already
there is something suspicious
about the arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You bring them songs
made from the remains
of former versions of yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the hopeful one,
the wounded one,
the one who believed
talent was a kind of passport
and the border guards
would eventually wave you through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some nights
they love you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You must be careful
about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Applause is a weather system.
It arrives loudly,
moves the trees,
then goes somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some nights
they do not love you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You must be careful
with this too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After many years
you understand
that the audience
is not a jury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nobody is on trial,
although you have spent
most of your life
presenting evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exhibit A:
the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exhibit B:
the hands still moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exhibit C:
the old photograph
in which you possess
more sex appeal
and less information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually the body
begins renegotiating
the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there is the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black, enormous,
waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It remembers nothing
of your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of its virtues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You sit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You place your hands
on the keys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a moment
before the first note,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you own nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No reputation.
No reviews.
No younger self
waiting to be avenged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You agree to standin the light. They agree to sitin the dark. Alreadythere is something suspiciousabout the arrangement. You bring them songsmade from the remainsof former versions of yourself: the […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"Layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[902],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-rockbob","post-9709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}