Soliloquy

In the tabloids the other day,
I saw you in an unconventional way.
“Cine star lands role in Hollywood,” it said.
I tried to turn a blind eye
And emit not an untimely sigh.
The mere thought filled me with dread!

Long convinced that I was free
From such painful mediocrity,
I tried to read it word-by-word
But got a shock instead.
So much of what you said
Revealed what they hadn’t blurred.

It said you no longer stay
At the bungalow on Kingsway.
“I spend my summers in the hills.
And winters by the coast.”
But what I liked the most
Was that someone else paid your bills.

Mid-paragraph by now, I was hooked
To the tales, not how you looked.
“My next venture is in Hollywood.
Immersed in such a daze,
I try to idly pass my days.”
I kept up with it the best I could.

In the end, it was too much.
The inside flap revealed a touch
Of fingertips I had known a century ago.
This producer you did like
And it takes two to strike.
To me, it did not come as a blow.

The last lines tell the lies
Of all the goodbyes
Lost in your suitcase of yesterdays.
The wind grasps your hands.
The only thing that stands
Is this house of ours that’s ablaze.