Alison Cassidy - Remembering Bill

He threw me across the stage
Wildly, night after night
'Get thee to a nunnery! '
Black eyes blazing
Gay, but you'd never know
He kissed like a dream

'Hath not a Jew eyes? '
He clutched my sleeve
Imploring, night after night
Hands deformed like claws
Body shrunken, transformed
Into the embittered Shylock

As Prospero he was massive
With staff and book and magic cloak
Commanding the stage
'O, a Cherubin thou wast, that did preserve me! '
He kissed my forehead
Tenderly, night after night

'Little Allie Bird, well bugger me! '
I hadn't seen him in years
He was working at the local tip
Slim and energetic as ever
The theatre work had dried up
'Can't seem to remember the bloody lines! '

Last week his partner brought him to visit
He was wearing a red baseball cap
They'd just got him into a home
He was so pleased to see me
We hugged and laughed a lot
He couldn't remember who I was

Alison Cassidy

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/remembering-bill/