And Then Never Again

After the show is over,
And they’ve taken their last bows,
But before they strike the set,

They troop to the apartment
Of the only one of them
Not still living in a dorm,

And the handsome leading man
On a hockey scholarship,
Who will drop out in a year

To join a Chippendales troupe
And make some easy money,
Produces a bag of weed,

And they all get stoned and laugh,
And then they get the munchies,
And march down to the WaWa,

Delighted to act silly
And buy ten bags of Cheetos,
Although the comic-relief-

Playing character on stage
Is now the one paranoid,
And the straight man the most bent.

They did a show. They did it
Themselves, in an old basement
Fall-out shelter in a dorm—

Their own props, their own tickets,
Their own promotion, their own
Everything, and it all worked.

Audiences came and laughed.
They’ll feature in the yearbook.
Tonight they’ll sleep on the floor,

Some lovers and some loners
In one hazy, tangled heap
Of bad jokes and Cheeto dust.