the act, then the epilogue

the act, then the epilogue

 

 

your expression is off

something sinister in your eyes

you act normal

until your fantasies rage

and those in the way

find the demise 

in your eyes

very real

even when it does not seem a part of you

 

faces in bars

become faces behind bars

you drank her in

then exposed her,

expunged her

 

went home to your wife

rested your head on her pillow

kissed her to sleep with your lips

while your hands were shaking

 

from where they had been.

 

erin-cilberto

3/30/23

Reviews

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

A very thought provoking piece of Poetry, Jacob ... Excellently done ...

Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Marvin...appreciate you.
j.

[Soren]

Sinister and haunting. Our thoughts and fantasies can become situations where it is difficult to tell the difference between what is real and not. Guilt from action or thought is the same, This has a very noir feel to it.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I wish had just been a movie...thank you, Soren,
j.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

It expresses guilt
The subject feels guilt but somehow can’t himself
Good write well better than good 👍
Hope you well

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Julie,
j.

[John the Baptist]

I may be way off base, but this one makes me think of someone who has recently been indicted.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, but many years ago....
j.

[Travis Gibson (poetic h..]

Dark, but brilliant piece. Such a common and unspoken event that lies at the outlines of our consciousness and adulthood.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Travis,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

Powerful and honest words and thoughts shared Jacob.
"faces in bars
become faces behind bars
you drank her in
then exposed her,
expunged her"
I loved the above lines and we are older. In the eighties. One night stands. They could leave you yearning for more and they is no re-turn. Thank you my friend for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Coyote, yes they leave one yearning for more...or for life.
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome Jacob.

[Ayvid N]

A poem so powerful in its message. We can be so many different people at the same time. An adoring husband, a low life cheater and a liar and so much more. I feel sorry not just for the husband who does this but also for his wife who perhaps knows it all and stays silent but also for the one who is expunged from the mind and thoughts so routinely only to be picked up as a plaything the next night all over again. Kudos Jacob!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, divya...yes a very low life...
j.

[FGFRANKLIN]

Bravo, Jacob. I enjoyed reading this one. So many want to cheat...it doesn't matter at what to them. Sometimes I think there's only one muse singing different songs to the hearts of different poets at the same time though. "It's that feeling. You can only say what it is in French." to quote Stephen King But I feel as if I've been here before. I just finished a piece on a similar train of thought...not necessarily cheating but about life as a song. I guess the cheaters have cheating songs...that's BOUND to be country as a Jerry Springer show. (laughing) But the bar got thrown in there to have a place to play my music. I used a full blown sustained metaphor throughout so I'll have to wonder if my reader gets what it is but I explained to my wife as I was writing it and she seemed to like it. But the "act" here is actually an act of betrayal whereas my "act" or "song" represents individual lives and the living of them. "All the world's a stage" sort of "act" to wax all Shakespearean. I loved the line "faces in bars become faces behind bars". That's an all too often truth poetically rendered and realized. Great piece, greatly enjoyed. 100% rating from me.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Oh my God, Jerry was so good at being serious with these people on his show...
but he could not suppress the grin, eventually.
j.

[FGFRANKLIN]

I know, his show was like a welcome to hillbilly hell. Those people give hillbillies like myself a bad rep though (laughing) I'm more like a Thomas Wolfe kind of hillbilly. Now there was a North Carolina poet worth his salt. I'm proud to come from a state that has produced some fine writers like Wolfe, O. Henry and Tom Robbins.

[Betty Hermelee]

cheating is on the run...and one shouldn't shake because your wife may never find out.... it's done all the time... and I feel sorry for women who get the sex-and are lifeless but have some change, and the wife who is clueless...men!!! their all the same; I like this piece J.
Best, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

your response is more spot on than you could imagine, Betty.
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

Thanks! and you're very welcome J.
Best, B

[willweb]

The big question is, why cheat? Now a days, no one it seems stays married. Marriage is like a job now, if you don't feel you get paid enough, you quit and find a new one. So, why cheat, just quit to find the new one.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

good question, will,
thank you for your response.
j.