In make-up, lipstick for the lines,
liner for the look, base for the face 
of a let-down mother, abandoned lover,
clown [it's all in the eyes]

The limelight - usually unkind -
pays the courtesy of hiding the spectators,
intruders on the soft affair that plays
twixt wright and actor.

At home, rinsing out the curls
of a character incredible once the
lights go out, I wonder why
I can't quite feel them die.