the street-theater actor is at the curtained back
of the stage that stands on stilts;
the actor sits on an antique chair
(that doubles often as a prop)
and holds a mirror,
and removes gently, slowly, carefully
and with as much skill as when on stage
in a role or when delivering one’s lines
as with much care
the actor removes the make-up
the layers of it
the variety of it
all the colors, all the substances
and the powder
gently
slowly
carefully
skillfully
and then the face is clear
and one sees one’s own face
with clarity, with no make-up, with certainty,
with no lines remembered, with no roles…
it is all clear…
conditioning
