We forget

that whilst we are the hero

of our own particular story,

that we are also only bit players,

occasional extras,

unseen scene shifters

and barely existing wardrobe mistresses

and silent fancy dressers

in everybody else’s time in the spotlight,

that whilst they deliver the cutting line,

the well rehearsed, sometimes spontaneous

ad-lib or the images of abuse in human form,

we are the unspeaking audience,

looking in from afar

and with no right to have our say

on how we would like the play