The auditorium empties

And I shed my cloak

To sing

                 “Somewhere over the rainbow

                 Way up high

                  There’s a land that I heard of

                  Once in a lullaby”

My white beard covers a swollen

Belly from all the milk I’ve

Been drinking

                   “Somewhere over the rainbow

                     Skies are blue

      And the dreams that you dare to dream

                     Really do come true”

Eyes sinking low and thinking,

How can I give birth to

A baby?

                      “Someday I’ll wish upon a star

         And wake up where the clouds are far

                       Behind me”

I was told when I was ten

That I could be whatever

I want

       “Where troubles melt like lemon drops

                      Away above the chimney tops

                        That’s where you’ll find me.”

Try to be a mommy in a world

Like this. Cloudy, broken

And mean

                     “Somewhere over the rainbow

                        Bluebirds fly

                        Birds fly over the rainbow

                        Why then, oh why can’t I?”

Crazy, outrageous, scream.

No one can see me

For me

                         “If happy little bluebirds fly

                           Beyond the rainbow

                            Why, oh why can’t I?”

“Grandfathers can’t be mommies,”

Somebody broke

My dream.