The Actor Acts Out

As I am “self,” I am more than I am.

I really only speak thus to myself.

My voice is always sweetly orotund,

But what I’m here to say is all mere sham.

I’ve earned a moiety of fame and pelf

And not once have I given a refund.

My fingers flick about like ten small swords,

Not as sharp as the edges of my words.

My visage contortions are a mirror

(That’s where I learned them) of your hapless souls;

Mine is a mimesis of your terror

As you nose up squinting from your mole holes.

Ah, sirrahs, let’s be friends. (I’m just joking!)

My playwright prints my words — gads, she’s smoking!

Note: Sirrah is an archaic term used as a form of address to men, boys, or children, 

often to express anger, impatience, or contempt.

NOW, A Sonnet on My 73rd Birthday

There's nothing there we haven't seen before,

But not so many times we can afford 

To hustle past. Let's promise each other --

Never commit the sin of being bored.

Besides, so much has changed in just a year.

The sun-rustled air seems even clearer.

The pattern of the leaves left in the trees

(Yes, the postcard days ended yesterday),

Suggests paragraphs full of ideas,

Things we think but never think to say.

The colors play the best part of the scene,

And we must grant each leaf its final bow.

If we could stay to watch the last careen

To the ground, we might settle then at Now.