Stage Fright

Stage Fright

The curtains raise,
A rippling crimson sea
Of velvet concealing you.
Bright lights blaze down,
Shining in your eyes,
Making you sweat.

The scene begins
And it’s your turn to speak,
But nothing comes out.
You struggle to remember
The lines you knew
Only moments before.

Your mind blanks
And the words won’t come,
You forget what happens next.
Your thought race
As the other actors prompt you.

The audience fidgets
In the dark, feeling
Your pain, unable to help.
There is a collective holding
Of breath among the actors
And the audience.

Your face gets red
And your cheeks get hot,
Like glowing coals
Raked from the furnace.

You wish you could melt away
And sink into the floor,
Or close your eyes,
And disappear without a trace.

The play goes on and
The other actors continue,
You try to pull yourself together
In time for your next line.

You fight the urge
to run, escape,
Get away as fast as you can.
As though you could outrun
The humiliation.

You try to console yourself.
After all it’s only the first
Performance of the weekend
And tomorrow, you’ll get it right.

But now, all you want to do
Is click your heels, and find yourself
Somewhere far away from here.