Stealing Focus from Mercer

—In theater, “stealing focus” refers to when an actor takes focus he/she is not supposed to. Source:  Theater Exam 2 Flashcards

Activities directors
lead me to circles of chairs
where residents take their seats.
“All the world’s a stage,” so I
scoot back into a pillar
where I become a member
of this sacred story ring.

Once I join, the links begin.
The woman to my right sings
a hymn learned in the mountains.
I add the third above her.
Charmed by harmony, others
find their places near the warm
of each one’s inner fires.

We laugh at “Yankee Doodle.”
Our country’s first marching song
rose from British attempts to
lampoon patriot headgear.
We chorus the closing line,
“and called it macaroni”
with rock and roll big finish.

We sway and swing through four songs
before the care team breaks in,
asks me to move from my space
as they build a sound tower.
Dazed, I circumvent the sphere
carved with invisible lines—
sharp latitudes of sheer will.

From the far side, I watch.  Forged
chains break, lights fade, mouths close, mute.
All fires’ bright coals scraped cold,
I shiver, begin song five
about glow worms, but the mic
the aide is holding in front 
of my face blocks the lyrics.