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Ghost Light
Words: T. Daniel Sheppeard
Music: Jennifer Mansfield Peal
© 2004

When the angels have gone and the main stage is quiet
And a droplet of light is all that remains
Of the brilliance that once filled the stage
You may catch a glimmer of one lonely soul
That sits like a corpse, in the back row

And watched there with envy as the play was performed
Hating the actors who have flesh
Knowing that later, when the lights are brought down
And the scenery is struck, he’ll be the only one left
And no one will know the eloquent touch
He’ll bestow on the stage in his solo performance that night
As he runs through an act with a chorus of shadows
Cast by the glow of the ghost light

The lip of the stage which tasted the soles
Of a company’s hopes now spits out its silence
Which the house echoes back
A dialogue written for ghosts

The stillness is crushing, the silence a fanfare
Each shadow a giant that plays on the stage
Which waits there in patience for the actor who walks
Only through the ghost light

© 2004 Jennifer Mansfield Peal. All Rights Reserved.