The theatre safety curtain shows
a cloudscape reaching blue aflame
like fiery ascension
or manipulation by a politician.
From the melee, every face arriving
encounters programme, iPhone
or partner, with senses conniving
craftily before a Big Show.
A trumpeter is practicing scales
clashing with the theatre of buzz
but the war ain’t started yet.
Drums overcome that puzzling trumpet
with an all American grin, anticipation,
firepower. Shock and Awe.