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Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth (1889)/John Singer Sargent/via Wikimedia Commons
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Pretending
Is better than the alternative
Better than having to deal
With leaders drunk with power
Who crown themselves kings
Who sees the world as a commodity
To be conquered
And so, you pretend, you lose yourself
In your role, and the dystopia vanishes
Maybe you’re Lady Brett or Scarlett O’Hara
Maybe you’re a housewife, escaping the horrors
Of war, that’s what fantasy is for, with
Every part you play, reality fades away
It’s better than picking up the newspaper
And reading about hate and greed
With every part you escape, you fill a need
Like Lady Macbeth, all the world is your
Stage, a lovely diva you find yourself
In the words of another’s story
The world’s going to hell, so put on your cape
Become the hero the world needs, so pretend
And escape…
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Erren Kelly is a three-time Pushcart nominated poet from Boston whose work has appeared in 300 publications (print and online), including Hiram Poetry Review, Mudfish, Poetry Magazine, Ceremony, Cacti Fur, Bitterzoet, Cactus Heart, Similar Peaks, Gloom Cupboard, and Poetry Salzburg.
Click here to read “Under Quarantine” — COVID-era poetry of Erren Kelly, published by Jerry Jazz Musician
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Listen to the 1957 recording of Duke Ellington and his orchestra performing “Lady Mac” from Such Sweet Thunder, his suite based on the work of William Shakespeare. [Kontor]
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Click for:
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“Bluesette,” Salvatore Difalco’s winning story in the 67th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
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