Histrionics

She had the face of a silent movie star,
all moon-eyed and sepia.
I could never tell if I was the
Hero or
the Heavy.

I put on some swell performances--
crummy ones too--
but she seemed to believe
them all.

Or maybe she just
wanted to be in pictures.
Everybody wants to be in pictures.

All I know is I needed a girl.
Nobody wants to see a picture show
without a girl in it.
That’s rule number one.

I twirled my cane and laughed.
She held my arm.
The editor was to cut
between us strolling along the deck and
the waterfall ahead of us
plunging down
into the rocks.

We pretended that when we’d
get to the brim we’d just keep floating,
beyond the edge, into the sky.