That Moment

It's that moment, When you stride onto the stage A harsh light shines Onto your face Blinking through the white spots That makes your vision hazy

You gaze upon the dark audience Some part of your mind goes, "woah" But it's quickly swept away By the silent buzz in your mind As your muscles lock up The only thing that you can rely on Is the memory ingrained there through Countless hours of work and toil You repeat what you have practiced Of what seems like the thousandths time Then the music starts And you lose yourself to the melody

The moment speeds by in a blur Are you blank with concentration? Shivering in fear? Tight with tension? Withdrawn and empty? Painfully aware?

But before you know it The music fades As the tide recedes As the sun sinks low As the fog inside Your mind dissipates Every nerve inside you screams To relax, to let go But your mind knows to hold on Until that last clap of the audience Fades far, far away into the distance Until then, you cannot afford to collapse

It's that moment, of quiet relief Knowing that you are truly, and completely done For the night.

It's that moment, when you finally snap out Of the coma that you were in During that dreamlike-nightmare time onstage