WHY AM I / BECAUSE YOU ARE
ACT I
Questions by Andi Myles / Answers by Brendan Constantine
Why do birds love blackberries?
Because I never make decisions at night.
Why does the color green make me happy?
Because fire can be kept on a shelf and forgotten.
Why is the ladybug always alone?
Because no one is more beautiful than when you tell them they are.
Why are you sad?
Because my mother still carries me.
Why does fire entrance?
Because of a Sunday in 1975 when no one could find the sky.
ACT II
Questions by Brendan Constantine / Answers by Andi Myles
Why are there so many falls?
Because horses always know their way home.
Why can’t I see the castle?
Because it is impossible to see both sides of the moon.
Why do the dead talk all night?
Because the endling is on the precipice of death.
Why is a snake always needed?
Because I have a weakness for women named Maria.
Why are the stars still waiting?
Because even gods die without love.
—from Rattle #83, Spring 2024
Tribute to Collaboration
__________
Brendan Constantine & Andi Myles: “We both wrote our five questions/answers on our own before seeing the other’s and texted them to each other. First, Andi provided the questions and Brenden supplied the answers and then we switched roles. This was not edited to be anything more than it was—an exercise, a reaching out across thousands of miles sharing the answers without questions that plague us. It might seem like we cheated (the recurrence of fire in Act I? The dead and the endling? Stars and gods?) but we were equally surprised and delighted at the themes that emerged.” (web)
