Mikaela Castledine #16 A Major Production (still in rehearsal)

Directions

the boys are on the roof

not mine

well yes

my roof but not my boys

they are blued eyed

borrowed

one my daughter’s love and one his brother

who has a long ladder

swinging sure footed on the balustrade and up

determined to fix

the problem of the possums with wire mesh

courage and compressor

blocking holes and

replacing the cedar boards

that have been chewed

into overlapping prop wavelets

they set the scene

its G and S for sure

exeunt omnes

Act 1 Scene 1

After an

impromptu meal at the Chinese

old friends come back to ours

we repair to the deck

in the darkness

to drink coffee

and one by one the possums emerge

on cue

from the remaining hole

regular as a belted shooting gallery on the turn

maybe each is playing two parts

at once the chorus and the leads

seven make their entrance 

advance along the proscenium

Scene 2

so cutely marsupial

the dainty tipped

the cowboy widewalking males

the demure side glancing

while they hide their eyes

from the torch light

and exit stage right into the trees

friends are enchanted

as we sigh

wearily

thinking about how we mop the pungent

red stained urine

pouring through

self devised cracks in the ceiling

it's a pantomime now

with poo jokes

it's a farce

Scene 3

at three thirty am

it's the Mahabharata

an epic battle for kingship and return passage

through the one remaining entrance

Scene 4

at four

black trees stencil

shadow puppets against

the whitening scrim of the sky

they balance

along the beams tails high

wayang kalit plays until dawn

hissing and grunting

their displeasure at

the tenacity of metal mesh

and the ruination of routine

Scene 5

at five it's a plague on both our houses

and then we all sleep

Act 2

Directions

today we are

making use of the ladder

placing

the new bought possum houses in

the forks

of trees in the garden

Scene 1

there will be a Greek chorus I expect

Scene 2

there will be a morality play

Scene 3

there may be a tragedy or two

alas

and then perhaps

The End

where we live happily side by side

and it is musical theatre 

after all