This sonnet was inspired by the parallel lives of an epic hero and the actor portraying him.
I’m tossed in tanks for twenty takes until
I’m overboard, and suction pulls me down
they cut, let me dry off, and eat my fill
into the gyre where I begin to drown
and slip my wetsuit off and check my script
the fear slides off, replaced by total calm
for any lines I missed or cues I skipped
my lungs spill out a sloppy, salty psalm
my face is frosting-thick with layered paint
a welcome gasp of night air brings me back
whose smell with chlorine almost makes me faint
symphonic swell is collides with ocean smack
I dream of green screens stretching out for miles
as I’m washed ashore a dense, demonic isle.