Struck

[faustus]

Struck - the scene is struck,
the set, the stage, the theatre too -
a million nights out, a thousand matinees,
plays, pantos, performances struck
from the pages of bolt and screw
and brick and pane, lost days
of double features, Pathe News,
the thrice daily programme of social glue
unstuck, experiences of boos and praise.

Now, a ship beached, whose
time has come for a last curtain call;
unrigged, stripped, the final run through,
no more rehearsals, late night dispersals to booz-
ers, flea-ridden digs. Both circle and stall
no more, have gone, demolished. Time struck.