ENTR'ACTE

I watched you watch me from across the room
Though copper curls often obscured your face;
You used all of your art to gently trace
The outline of your lip whose scarlet bloom
Seemed stolen from the roses as they slept
In perfumed dreams of quiet Summer skies.

I caught you like a firefly when your eyes
Allowed a single burst of starry light
To slip twixt curtained fringes that had kept
It safely hidden from the jealous night.

You smiled as I stole across the floor
And held your gaze as though the sequined crowd
Engaged in idle chatter were allowed
No more of substance than the painted cloth
That forms a backdrop for the gypsied stage.

Then I became your flame-enchanted moth
Chasing your footsteps in my mating dance,
Casting my ashes at your parting glance
As once again the gay orchestral strains
Welled up in echoed splendor from the hall
To call the straggling strangers to their seats.

The show goes on, though part of me remains
In cocktailed lovedreams past the curtain's fall --
Seeking your face in every one it meets.

MMP
5/3/2020

On Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 5:34:24 PM UTC-5, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> ENTR'ACTE
>
>
> I watched you watch me from across the room
> Though copper curls often obscured your face;
> You used all of your art to gently trace
> The outline of your lip whose scarlet bloom
> Seemed stolen from the roses as they slept
> In perfumed dreams of quiet Summer skies.
>
> I caught you like a firefly when your eyes
> Allowed a single burst of starry light
> To slip twixt curtained fringes that had kept
> It safely hidden from the jealous night.
>
> You smiled as I stole across the floor
> And held your gaze as though the sequined crowd
> Engaged in idle chatter were allowed
> No more of substance than the painted cloth
> That forms a backdrop for the gypsied stage.
>
> Then I became your flame-enchanted moth
> Chasing your footsteps in my mating dance,
> Casting my ashes at your parting glance
> As once again the gay orchestral strains
> Welled up in echoed splendor from the hall
> To call the straggling strangers to their seats.
>
> The show goes on, though part of me remains
> In cocktailed lovedreams past the curtain's fall --
> Seeking your face in every one it meets.
>
>
> MMP
> 5/3/2020

Excellent!

On Wednesday, 22 February 2023 at 17:34:24 UTC-5, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> ENTR'ACTE
>
>
> I watched you watch me from across the room
> Though copper curls often obscured your face;
> You used all of your art to gently trace
> The outline of your lip whose scarlet bloom
> Seemed stolen from the roses as they slept
> In perfumed dreams of quiet Summer skies.
>
> I caught you like a firefly when your eyes
> Allowed a single burst of starry light
> To slip twixt curtained fringes that had kept
> It safely hidden from the jealous night.
>
> You smiled as I stole across the floor
> And held your gaze as though the sequined crowd
> Engaged in idle chatter were allowed
> No more of substance than the painted cloth
> That forms a backdrop for the gypsied stage.
>
> Then I became your flame-enchanted moth
> Chasing your footsteps in my mating dance,
> Casting my ashes at your parting glance
> As once again the gay orchestral strains
> Welled up in echoed splendor from the hall
> To call the straggling strangers to their seats.
>
> The show goes on, though part of me remains
> In cocktailed lovedreams past the curtain's fall --
> Seeking your face in every one it meets.
>
>
> MMP
> 5/3/2020

On Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 6:58:43 PM UTC-5, ME wrote:
> On Wednesday, 22 February 2023 at 17:34:24 UTC-5, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > ENTR'ACTE
> >
> >
> > I watched you watch me from across the room
> > Though copper curls often obscured your face;
> > You used all of your art to gently trace
> > The outline of your lip whose scarlet bloom
> > Seemed stolen from the roses as they slept
> > In perfumed dreams of quiet Summer skies.
> >
> > I caught you like a firefly when your eyes
> > Allowed a single burst of starry light
> > To slip twixt curtained fringes that had kept
> > It safely hidden from the jealous night.
> >
> > You smiled as I stole across the floor
> > And held your gaze as though the sequined crowd
> > Engaged in idle chatter were allowed
> > No more of substance than the painted cloth
> > That forms a backdrop for the gypsied stage.
> >
> > Then I became your flame-enchanted moth
> > Chasing your footsteps in my mating dance,
> > Casting my ashes at your parting glance
> > As once again the gay orchestral strains
> > Welled up in echoed splendor from the hall
> > To call the straggling strangers to their seats.
> >
> > The show goes on, though part of me remains
> > In cocktailed lovedreams past the curtain's fall --
> > Seeking your face in every one it meets.
> >
> >
> > MMP
> > 5/3/2020

Having a second read.

On Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 7:36:36 PM UTC-5, Will Donkey wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 6:58:43 PM UTC-5, ME wrote:
> > On Wednesday, 22 February 2023 at 17:34:24 UTC-5, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > > ENTR'ACTE
> > >
> > >
> > > I watched you watch me from across the room
> > > Though copper curls often obscured your face;
> > > You used all of your art to gently trace
> > > The outline of your lip whose scarlet bloom
> > > Seemed stolen from the roses as they slept
> > > In perfumed dreams of quiet Summer skies.
> > >
> > > I caught you like a firefly when your eyes
> > > Allowed a single burst of starry light
> > > To slip twixt curtained fringes that had kept
> > > It safely hidden from the jealous night.
> > >
> > > You smiled as I stole across the floor
> > > And held your gaze as though the sequined crowd
> > > Engaged in idle chatter were allowed
> > > No more of substance than the painted cloth
> > > That forms a backdrop for the gypsied stage.
> > >
> > > Then I became your flame-enchanted moth
> > > Chasing your footsteps in my mating dance,
> > > Casting my ashes at your parting glance
> > > As once again the gay orchestral strains
> > > Welled up in echoed splendor from the hall
> > > To call the straggling strangers to their seats.
> > >
> > > The show goes on, though part of me remains
> > > In cocktailed lovedreams past the curtain's fall --
> > > Seeking your face in every one it meets.
> > >
> > >
> > > MMP
> > > 5/3/2020
> Having a second read.

Which would serve as the second act.

(And people say I haven't any sense of humor!)