The Girl in the Red Cape

Richard Halperin

The girl in the red cape is still where she was.
On the island of Miyajima, on the planks of
The first Noh theatre. The theatre has no walls.
The small deer are still there, still not very friendly.
The sea is spectacular, the sky is spectacular.
They are still there, wall-less, that is what
Good theatre is. The island of Hiroshima
Is still nearby. I am somewhere taking a picture.
This is that picture. Pure theatre is gesture.
The clouds know this. In Noh the gestures
Never change. Master actors are aware that
It is impossible to make the same exact gesture
Twice. The infinitesimal difference is a specialty
Of eternity, and of the girl in the red cape.

Richard Halperin

Richard W. Halperin's poetry collections are published by Salmon/Cliffs of Moher (four) and by Lapwing/Belfast (sixteen). His work is part of University College Dublin's Irish Poetry Reading Archive. In 2023, Salmon will bring out a Selected and New volume, drawing upon all twenty books and including 25+ new poems.

Issue 32
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