The Stage

You step from behind the curtain,
makeup and costume obscuring your identity.
The lights shine in your eyes,
you cannot see the audience.

Practices were frequent.
A lot had been changed last time.
You take a breath and say your lines,
and then you are yourself no longer.

As sound comes from you,
you become the character.
The stage is not simply a stage,
but your school, your home, your world.

Then suddenly,
the lines stop.
The scene has ended.
Your part is done.

The music plays
and you depart,
yet as you step off the stage
you know,
that you
cannot come back.

Each time is slightly different.
Each time there is something different wrong,
but each time
the stage is only the world.