The question becomes
                      one of questions and more questions.​

The question becomes
                      which question to ask.​

The question becomes
                      whether to ask it at all.​

The question becomes
                      to what extent.​

The question becomes
                      to what end.​

The question becomes
                      too large for the printed page.​

The question becomes
                      too toxic to breathe out loud.​

The question becomes
                      one of the many still at large.​

The question becomes
                      one of the few that remain in storage. ​

The question becomes
                      a poet burning freshly-written pages.​

The question becomes
                      a word to rhyme with rhyme.​

The question becomes
                      a dream to dream with sleep.​

The question becomes
                      a drapery of waves.​

The question becomes
                      a brain of fireflies.​

The question becomes
                      a desiccation of leaves.​

The question becomes
                      the time-lapse twitching of shrubbery in rain.​

The question remains.
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Wim Coleman

Wim Coleman is a playwright, poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. His poetry has been published in The Opiate, Dissenting Voice, Tuck Magazine, Vita Brevis, The Esthetic Apostle, Dream Noir, Visitant, The Thieving Magpie, Levee Magazine, and other publications. His book of poetry I.O.U. was published in 2020. His play Shackles of Liberty was the winner of the 2016 Southern Playwrights Competition. His recent plays include The Mad Scene, which has been described a "an Our Town about the French Reign of Terror," The Harrowing, "a rhapsody on a theme by Mary Shelley," and Wiser than the Night, a drama of ideas about the decline of democracy that asks, "What went wrong?" Novels that he has co-authored with his wife, Pat Perrin, include Anna’s World, the Silver Medalist in the 2008 Moonbeam Awards, and The Jamais Vu Papers, a 2011 finalist for the Eric Hoffer/Montaigne Medal. Wim and Pat lived for fourteen years in Mexico, where they adopted their daughter, Monserrat, and created and administered a scholarship program for at-risk students. Wim and Pat now live in Carrboro, North Carolina. They are members of PEN International. Blog: playsonideas.com.