The Minor Characters As They Appear
Hermes Army: a collection of perfume bottles that act
as chorus from the upstairs bathroom window. Aunt Magda
prays nightly over birth cords & baby teeth in a jam jar
[the talking snuffbox lately stricken from the script]
La Virgen de Ló: through the magnifying glass perpetually
emerges from a pinto bean, unless it’s a trick or trompe l’oeil
[the prop–master as usual requests you do not touch]
First Girl: stillborn but reincarnated as a shaft of sunlight
—which is a trick but still lucent as anything mote–lit
[mind the passage when she enters/exits]
&
Members of the Crowd who gather at parades or the daily
train’s arrival, milling & muttering peas & carrots;
Mr. Ether who bought his trailer for its painted–on shutters
[please remember there’s no liquor in the sound booth]
Juan Aldo who coaxes music from ruminant skulls
[while the nameless stagehands mouth the lines]
Second Girl: one leg made from chicken bones & netting;
finally the Wild Boy who escapes back into the vast forest
once our curiosity for a mute filthy urchin is sated
[& it’s time again to sweep up sawdust & confetti] 