The Performance

We devour you
and you let us
because by that consumption
you gain substance

You close your eyes
A smiling, subtle martyr
To both your deviance
And ours

Compelled
Drowning in
The demand to be different
Than you are

You give
And we take
Eating you up
Until you birth yourself anew
Someone else

Your eyes
Betray your secret
That fury always hidden
In the fountain of ashes
You become

Go home, sleep
Come back tomorrow
We'll do it all again
This time on tape

c. 1998
Kellie Matthews