The Sand Hill Review               http://www.sandhillreview.org 2009

Silver-Screen

(Who is Ronald Coleman?)

The difference between the known

and the unknown

The difference between

the voice unspoken and the voice

Spoken for the first time

emerging from the mist

The wash of light and shadow

From the pantomime

of comedy and tragedy

From the high cliffs of the silver screen

across the heath or on a busy sidewalk

From the cloud of some nightclub

dispensing advice over a cocktail

Or wisdom on the gallows

nodding to the Fates

Standing before him like midnight satin

and silk as thin as his moustache

Cut by his wry smile

and an almost imperceptible wince

under his brow

A tale of two cities

in a long career of measured steps

out of the gloom into the light

Of whatever the eyes will say on cue

Of whatever way the words will grow

into forests and stars

The creatures of an entire jungle

Our civilization from in front of

the camera and the microphone

The difference between the known

and the unknown — for the price of

admission

Robert Perry