Act the Part
I am an actor on this stage of life.
My role is factored into all the scenes
Beginning with an innocent delight.
My birth and babbling lines by any means
Directed all attention to this part.
A ham at birth and cute, I was a star.
The photographs and modeling apart
From some occasional fluffing thus far
I acted many roles that came my way.
Until my public image lost its lure
I found myself without a scene to play
Except the one where life shown me the door
A role I never played in my career
An empty lonely man, alone in tears.
poem by Albert Ahearn
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Esther, A Sonnet Sequence: I
When is life other than a tragedy,
Whether it is played in tears from the first scene,
In sable robes and grief's mute pageantry,
For loves that died ere they had ever been,
Or whether on the edge of joys set keen,
While all the stage with laughter is agog,
Death stepping forward with an altered mien
Pulls off his mask, and speaks the epilogue?
Life is a play acted by dying men,
Where, if its heroes seem to foot it well
And go light--tongued without grimace of pain,
Death will be found anon. And who shall tell
Which part was saddest, or in youth or age,
When the tired actor stops and leaves the stage?
poem by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
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Birthday Soliloquy
Day of birth, it beckons me, my birthday!
Many, many moons have risen and set
Since this big baby's birth along the way.
I have no qualms, few querulous regrets.
Happy birthday you broken-down poet!
You managed to eke yet another year
Out of your life's allotted installments.
Happy birthday fella! You persevered
Once more. Eyesight poor but you see much more.
I guess they call it wisdom, gained from all
The years. Just hype! Nothing to underscore:
A bit part, few lines and no curtain calls.
The bard once wrote the world is but a stage
I’ll play the part. My role is middle age.
poem by Albert Ahearn
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So Lonely
Well someone told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you just dont care
You look as if youre going somewhere
But I just cant convince myself
I couldnt live with no one else
And I can only play that part
And sit and nurse my broken heart
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
Know no ones knocked upon my door
For a thousand years or more
All made up and no where to go
Welcome to this one man show
Just take a seat theyre always free
No surprise no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
I feel so lonely...
song performed by by Police
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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So Lonely
Well someone told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you just dont care
You look as if youre going somewhere
But I just cant convince myself
I couldnt live with no one else
And I can only play that part
And sit and nurse my broken heart
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
Know no ones knocked upon my door
For a thousand years or more
All made up and no where to go
Welcome to this one man show
Just take a seat theyre always free
No surprise no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
I feel so lonely...
song performed by by Police
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life Is But A Stage
Like a fly drawn to a web... As I am to you,
The scent of you fills me with hope only to be dashed,
Trapped once more in your deceatful embrace,
My lungs no longer expand with the breath of life,
Your embrace has become like a death grip upon my soul,
No longer able to see the truth from the lie,
Like a second rate actor who has forgotten his lines,
Desperately hoping someone will share life's script,
All the scenes have become like a blurr of agony,
The writer abandoned this play as a lost cause long ago,
But the play goes on regardless,
So we have to endure opening nights pain,
There shall be no encore to this portrait of existance,
Lights shall dim, audiences shall vanish,
Some may laugh, others may weep, some may ponder,
But the play shall end... And all shall cease to be,
What shall you learn from the role of your life? ...
Spread the love... The peace will folow...
poem by Cosmic Dreamer
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Hollywood
A suburb of Los Angeles, California
Very famous for the motion-picture industry it seems.
I hear they are searching a new actor for an ugly role.
Suddenly I sent one of my old photographs with a resume.
And I got a prompt reply; 'Sorry Sir, you are too ugly for the role.
But anyway we decided to hang your photograph in our studio for future references.'
I responded, 'Thank you very much for your kindness Sir.
And I hope you give me a King's role very soon.'
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Hip Hop It Really Rocks
Botched up and rocked by hip hop...
That has drowned out all the pop,
People 'use' to love a lot.
Although almost on top is hip hop...
Like it or not,
It is part of culture.
And hip hop can't be stopped!
Pop...
Botched up and rocked by hip hop,
Is no longer the main 'thing' on the scene.
With a meaning meant,
Like the appetite for Fort Knox.
And pop now in shambles.
Struggling not to be completely dropped.
Hip hip hip hip hip-hop,
Is in a glorifying role.
Hip hip hip hip hip-hop,
Is in a glorifying role.
Hip-hip-hip-hip is hot,
And in a glorifying role.
Hip-hop it knows it really rocks.
And in a glorfying role.
Botched up and rocked by hip hop...
That has drowned out all the pop,
People 'use' to love a lot.
Although almost on top is hip hop...
Like it or not,
It is part of culture.
And hip hop can't be stopped!
Hip hip hip hip hip-hop,
Is in a glorifying role.
Hip hip hip hip hip-hop,
Is in a glorifying role.
Hip-hip-hip-hip is hot,
And in a glorifying role.
Hip-hop it knows it really rocks.
And in a glorfying role.
Hip hip hip hip hip-hop,
Is in a glorifying role.
Hip hip hip hip hip-hop,
Is in a glorifying role.
Hip-hip-hip-hip is hot,
And in a glorifying role.
Hip-hop it knows it really rocks.
And in a glorfying role.
That hip-hop grows and can't be stopped.
It's in a glorifying role.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Of any nation
Loves not being German, American or of any nation
You are supposed to be champion for human
You owe certain things to common people
Even though you may be independent and capable
You can call it shining day
As you have found means and way
Yet it is almighty that you have been gifted
Out of millions you have been lifted
You own money, luxury villa or orchid
still you are His lovable child and need feed
you may be able to take decision
yet it may be directed by Him with precision
You are answerable to none
But has to be shared with someone
You be smart, well positioned or outspoken
Never stand for outrageous statement surely for to be mistaken
Love what you are and meant for?
Seek the justice and avert the scuffle or war
Someone has played a dominant role in your well being
Thank always as you have to play character role in ring
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
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Word is an Actor to the Poem
Word is an actor to the poem
Play small part in the end of some row
Or get the centre of attention
Written in title and crucial point
Or just a bridge between other characters
Word is an actor to the poem
Cast and found to create whole story
Have a role building imagination
Changed by mood or deep thought
Dancing in the mind of every poet
poem by Maria Sudibyo
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The Looker On
for Mr. Satterthwaite
the audience in drama of life
never lucky in love and adventure
but has knowledge about life and human characters
sometimes wants to be the actor
small role that easily be marginal from world stage
but the one who gives a sign to the leading actor
to start an important climax
that won't be able to begin if he's not there
then goes down from the stage
and satisfied enough to be a looker on again
poem by Maria Sudibyo
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So Lonely
Well someone told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you just don't care
You look as if you're going somewhere
But I just can't convince myself
I couldn't live with no one else
And I can only play that part
And sit and nurse my broken heart
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
Now no one's knocked upon my door
For a thousand years or more
All made up and nowhere to go
Welcome to this one man show
Just take a seat they're always free
No surprise no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The role of Rimbaud is one of the most important roles to play for a young actor.
quote by Leonardo DiCaprio
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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One Hit Wonderful
Fourteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds into our fifteen minutes of fame
When the luck runs out, I won't wonder who's to blame
Because nobody said they had a guaranteed way
to win the hearts of the public who are easily swayed
And just this time last year, I thought we had it made
We were One Hit Wonderful
Livin' the life, playin' the role
We were One Hit Wonderful
Well, it can't last long
They don't love you
They just love that one song
Well, things don't last long in life; that's how it goes
They'll smile and applaud, then turn up their nose
Things will shrink as quickly as they've grown
But it's perfectly normal for us to ask why
The company wasn't untrue, they just didn't try
And a new career is born. It will eventually die
We were One Hit Wonderful
Livin' the life, playin' the role
We were One Hit Wonderful
Well, it can't last long
They don't love you
They just love that one song
That one song...
That one song
So many lovely melodies
So many messages to convey
But they don't care about any of these
"Play that one damn song!" is what they say
We were One Hit Wonderful
Livin' the life, playin' the role
We were One Hit Wonderful
Well, it can't last long
They don't love you
Oh, no!
We were One Hit Wonderful
Livin' the life, playin' the role
We were One Hit Wonderful
Well, it can't last long
They don't love you
They just love that one song
song performed by by Reel Big Fish
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Behind the Scenes
The actor struts his little hour,
Between the limelight and the band;
The public feel the actor's power,
Yet nothing do they understand
Of all the touches here and there
That make or mar the actor's part,
They never see, beneath the glare,
The artist striving after art.
To them it seems a labour slight
Where nought of study intervenes;
You see it in another light
When once you've been behind the scenes.
For though the actor at his best
Is, like a poet, born not made,
He still must study with a zest
And practise hard to learn his trade.
So, whether on the actor's form
The stately robes of Hamlet sit,
Or as Macbeth he rave and storm,
Or plays burlesque to please the pit,
'Tis each and all a work of art,
That constant care and practice means --
The actor who creates a part
Has done his work behind the scenes.
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
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Letter to God
dear god
how little i feel
about myself
despite your claim
that i am the top
of your creation
a little virus
would kill me off
i feel mysellf
a plaything
your plaything
a toy, a puppet
and the world your stage
with my role written
where i should play out my part
talk about freewill?
is there one?
one plus one equals two
an empty stomach
does not have free will
to choose?
a woman with
near dead child at her hands
knows free will is spoken
only by the gods
in their written scripts
to enliven their puppets
to act out
i know too after all
the theatrical parts
like a buffalo led by the noose
i will be torn out
of existence
as you plan your next play
like the sun
that comes after heavy rain
the land cleaned of its dirt,
where fresh breeze blows
i am but then
would be lost
in existence
consciouness
torn to shreds
to get your next
theatre going
not a trace of mine
would be left
on this stage
where i had acted out my part
with flesh, blood and soul
free will
no freewill and all
god, you the puppeteers
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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In fact, the element of play has an important role in my life, and I think that should be the case in the life of every artist. Our life is occupied with playing, whether we play an instrument or a role.
quote by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Incubus
(fish / marillion)
When footlights dim in reverence to prescient passion
Forwarned my audience leaves the stage, floating ahead
Perfumed shift within the stammering silence, the face
That launched a thousand frames betrayed by a porcelain tear, a stained career, career
You played this scene before, you played this scene before
I the mote in your eye, eye, eye, eye
I the mote in your eye
A misplaced reaction, reaction
The darkroom unleashes imagination in pornographic images
In which you will always be the star, always be the star
Untouchable, unapproachable, constant in the darkness, in the darkness, in the darkness
Nursing an erection, a misplaced reaction, with no flower to place before this gravestone
And the walls become enticingly newspaper thin
But that would be developing the negative view
And you have to be exposed in voyeuristic colour
The public act, let you model your shame on the mannequin catwalk, catwalk
Let the cats walk, and the cat walks
Ive played this scene before
Ive played this scene before
I the mote in your eye, eye, eye, eye
I the mote in your eye
A misplaced reaction, satisfaction
A irritating speck of dust that came from absolutely nowhere
You cant brush me under the carpet, you cant hide me under the stairs
The custodian of your private fears, your leading actor of yesteryear
Who as you crawled out of the alleys of obscurity
Sentenced to rejection in the morass of anonymity
You who I directed with lovers will
You who I let hypnotise the lens
You who I let bathe in the spotlights glare
You who wiped me from your memory like a greasepaint mask
Just like a greasepaint mask
But now Im the snake in the grass, the ghost of filmreels past
Im the producer of your nightmare and the performance has just begun
Its just begun, its just begun
Your perimeter of courtiers jerk like celluloid puppets
As you stutter paralysed with rabbits eyes, searing the shadows
Flooding the wings, to pluck elusive salvation from the understudys lips
Retrieve the soliloque, maintain the obituary
My cue line in the last act and you wait in silent solitude
Waiting for the prompt, waiting for the prompt
Youve played this scene before
song performed by by Marillion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Woman on the Underground
Nondescript – her clothes say nothing
except perhaps, ‘neatish’; hair – just there..
certainly quiet; not hiding behind a book
or newspaper; nice eyes, though;
she’s nearly your age; maybe more…
and yet – surely, you’ve seen that face
somewhere before?
What an incredible memory we have
for faces – like, the managing director
of some store firm which you’ve never used,
seen profiled once on the business pages
which you never usually read…
You stare discreetly at her, as if
you want her to reveal herself some way –
a sorta condensed silent biodata…
Then it all comes back. Her name?
No that still escapes you..
but it all comes back:
small parts, years ago, on the West End stage;
housemaids; faithful retainer in some famous
Shakespeare with those two stars;
A housekeeper in Ibsen, was it?
The one you missed? Then came TV; her nondescript, not unpleasant but not memorable face, has served her well,
unlike those who always play themselves; she played
a Queen Victoria with an inner dignity,
a fierce integrity barely hinted at, but there;
not one of the famous ones; but unforgettable.
And then - oh, of course - that famous Scottish serial;
she, the caring housekeeper..
And now she’s equal star (un-interviewed;
I guess that’s quite deliberate; a true professional)
of a slightly overplayed, farcical comedy serial
so successful that they put on old repeats
every Christmas and at New Year..
She’s been, in fact, a feature of your viewing life
right through; she inhabits all her roles in such a way
that – you care; as if she were somehow, family..
And now you want to catch her eye; and in some way
(embarrassing - you still can’t remember her name
or all the roles she played…) but in some way
(how can you do this privately in the public underground,
she’d hate you for it..) somehow say
do you know how much pleasure, no,
not only pleasure, offered us an insight
into many inner lives of great and humble human beings..
almost everyone in this carriage has been enriched
by you, did you know that? ..
Maybe, if she leaves first, you’ll catch her eye
as she gets up, and with a ‘meaning’ glance
imply, knew who you were, but respected your
modest anonymity; (how well you play
anonymous Miss Nobody!) - no need to recall your own
most celebrated role, you and I
go further back than that…
or maybe I’ll leave first; but I’ll do the same..
and I left first; as I got up, tried to hypnotise
a glance from her; but no; I did not even figure
way down on the cast-list of this play of the moment..
Then, some fan-letter, perhaps? ‘You won’t know me,
but I was the man who sat opposite you, yesterday, remembering…’
Oh forget it. But what a life a dedicated actor leads -
when they’re in work…not many parts for ageing actresses these days;
bless her, and her nondescript, rich, unforgettable, life-enhancing
brilliance.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Ambition drains by acting
I was an actor and my role was a King
And every day I acted like a king.
It has killed my thirst of becoming one
And thus my life has fallen flat.
31.05.2002, pakd
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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The Hero And The Theif
I'll play the part of the hero,
You play the role of the thief.
With sword in hand
I take my stand.
I take my stand right here.
You played your part
And stole her heart
While the hero goes away.
But I'll return
To save the girl
When I come back some day.
I walk the longest road
Past castles and through time.
On my way home I'm coming
To save the world I left behind.
Years gone by as time fades away.
I'm longing for the day
That I return
Knowing that I've earned
To see her smiling face.
You've played your part
And stole her heart
While the hero was away.
Now I've returned
To save the girl
Banish you from today.
I've played my part as the hero
You've played your role as the thief.
I've saved the girl
And saved the world
The hero and the thief.
poem by Ricky Perron
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