Curtain Call
Step Off The Stage- A Poetic Lyric Essay
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“I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world”
Mary Oliver
In the unconscious quest for self
We become penetrated
by the alluring hungry leer
of the insatiable hammer
of fame.
We surrender
to the stiff pressure of pleasing
that lasciviously forces its way
into a small crack
in our innocence
casting us onto
the stage of praise.
We play out our day and age
in the blinding bright
flattering limelight
of centre stage.
In the dopamine bolus rush of the applause
We fall into acting and entertaining
from a script that we ourselves
never wrote.
We become an oblivious accomplice
in this production,
Choreographing
a dance of expectations
Designing
a disguise of compromise.
The show must go on!
Obediently
We slowly sink
into the languishing sands
of our own disappearance.
We will all start there
Yet remaining in the theatre
of that old familiar stage
may not allow us to truly
discover our real innate
authentic self.
Is the performance approval
of the audience
Our mirror
or our reflection?
We are here to sing our own songs
To share our own words
with this world
before we take
that final curtain call.
We don't want to have only just simply
visited this world
To create
is to courageously bring
something into existence
that was not already there.
We desire
for our authentic being
to blend into
the sacred expression
of this world.
Are we acting out
or looking In?
Are we role playing
or discovering our true Essence?
pretending
or Revealing
Conscious
or unconscious?
doing
or Being?
In the unique rediscovery of our
own purpose
The only gift that we can truly give
this world
is the fruit of the harvest
of our own authenticity
Wisdom is the journey
from imitation to creation.
Did we meet our true self
on our journey through?
“Hurried and worried until we’re buried, and there’s no curtain call,
Life is a very funny proposition after all.”George Michael Cohan
Curtain Call
We all know the place
That same old worn out stage
seductively so familiar
Where the pleasing of performance
has slowly become our cage
Projecting from the limelight
on that raised
pedestal of belonging
Where we will go barefoot
Just to sell the kiss in a scene
And as the applause
comes right on cue
In the shallow laughter
of pretending
You know
that you never really knew
How to play
the part
of you
© Jamie Millard
Who do you see in the mirror when you take off your masks?
Who wrote the script of your life?
Do you sing your own songs?
Do you know how to play the part of the authentic you?
Are we entertaining or creating in this life?
The poem Curtain Call is courtesy of my book Cuoreosity: The heArt of Being. Cuoreosity is a poetic invitation to live into the questions. The questions that have no right to go away. The questions that deal with who we are becoming. Check out the book and enjoy the journey with me as I learned how to step off the stage to bow inward to my own light. A full live reading of the poem can be found on Instagram.
The second edition will be coming out soon as a workbook. I will announce it here when it is ready.
I believe that poetry is meant to be read out loud. Reading and listening to a poem is meditative and the words create an intimate encounter with presence. Poetry is a wonderful addition to the heartfulness of a spiritual practice.
Lots of Love,
Jamie
PS. Stay tuned for more coming soon about Cuoreosity and The Poetry Way
Beautifully crafted! 🙏
Thank you for reading 📖 🙏❤️