To maintain the happy fiction of the Greater Drama

outdoor area
park or creek bed
wooden table under oaks
drinking beer
summer nights
old abandoned
elementary schools
repurposed
no doors or windows
open air
watching others
organize a music festival
groups meeting in rooms
at tables drinking beer
a general sense of chaos
two younger women
a performer and an organizer
enthusiastic but distracted
I am concerned
the organizer
is not following through
I move around
picking up the slack
making certain
bases are covered
while she laughs
at the center
of an orbit of admirers
watching me work
out of the corner
of her eye
with a sweet smile
I detect
the atmosphere of manipulation
and the performer
in another room
has me fill out the form
for her
go get her beer
while she attends
to the affections
of others
when I point out
she is short of funds
she breaks down
crying with trembling lip
says it is all the money
she has
and I figure a way
to slide the numbers
so it is not a worry
here the dream hovers
in a kind of paused cloud
I consider
the organizer
manipulates through strength
counting on me to
follow in her wake
and pick up the pieces
and the performer
manipulates through weakness
creating false drama
acting helpless
so I will work it out
to diminish
the source of drama
both seem to see me
as it were
from out of the eye holes
of their masks
both actors playing a part
acknowledging with slight nod
and narrowing of the eyes within
that they know I know
what is going on
that we are all acting
all responding as our roles require
to maintain the happy fiction
of the Greater Drama
as always
the reflective bubble
trembles and pops
into the dim dawn
of awakening