The Opposite's Opposite
The Opposite’s Opposite
Missed Connections in Manhattan
The discovery of opposites
has already wreaked havoc
in Paradise
On our stages
it has become daily practice
Between empty beer bottles and naked women
Florestan writhes in the dungeon
Pushed by Leporello
Don Giovanni travels Spain in a wheelchair
A white-skinned Othello
murders “black” Desdemona
In the face of such disaster
what else can we do
but express right away
the opposite of what we wish to say
thus giving theatre directors an incentive
to perpetrate
without any loss of face
though not with pristine innocence
the opposite’s opposite
* Leporello – Mozart , Don Giovanni’s manservant.
(sorry, I know you don’t like Mozart:)
NOTE FROM THE MISSED CONNECTIONS CHIEF BOTTLE FINDER:
I like the line, “In the face of such disaster what else can we do but express right away the opposite of what we wish to say.” It reminds me of those Make-Your-Own-Story books where at critical plot junctures you’re given a choice of character actions – thus effecting the outcome. What sort of theatre might have transpired had our poet not answered in opposites? Is it possible that the truth always happens?
