why were you and i cast in these roles?
the scenes play again and again before my mind —

the cowering child, the screaming parent;
the world shaking, lurching, crying –
the world was always crying in those days –

but now, the crying i hear is a baby’s cry;
one i can fix with a bottle and a warm presence

but later i see your granddaughter’s eyes,
and i know she’s been crying,
and trying to hide the evidence

when the call came for the part,
she didn’t know which one she’d get —

none of us do —

and life, the great casting call
sends us out, ill-prepared,
to do our bits

then disappear backstage

off-camera