Life from the Podium

You stand on a platform
So much larger than you
And still you search for the words to say
As stuttering becomes you

Life from the podium
Makes your words grow
Tight
In your throat as you search
Search for the time to say
What you mean
And say it hot

But everyone is always watching
As you stand on what's beneath you

It is hard to have a million gazes transfixed on your being
But say it like you mean it
And perhaps the masses will believe the words that fall like
Water
From the chords that trap the voice

Don't worry--
They watch, though they do not understand
They say what they do not know
They speak what they have not heard
They assume what their mind
Speaks.

They pretend to know the answer
From the life on the floor

But the limelight burns the eyes
And the podium weakens the knees
The timing is held by clocks
And tick tick tick

You're up next.


~Rachel~