The Plays
Time to Burn [sample]
by Charles L. Mee
SHLOMO
We each do what we have within us to do
This is all we can do
[while Shlomo talks, he returns to binding his book,
his practiced hands moving efficiently at the task;
we are transfixed on his hands;
the room is absolutely quiet;
we watch him for a long while in silence]
You might say
what I've done with my life
has been pointless
it might be true
[silence as he works]
Possibly I should have done something else
[looks up, with a big smile]
something that's not just
another of the pleasures for the few
[silence]
But I gave what I had
I couldn't give what I didn't have
so that
now
at the end
I might have to conclude
well:
it's been entirely meaningless
entirely meaningless
and I'm too old now to start again
