Acting

By Lorelei Bade

One, The curtain opens It begins Rush onto the stage, spewing lines that have been rehearsed over and over and over and over But you stumble along, years of practice for scenes you just can’t get right because you know they aren’t yours, Scratched out and written over and analyzed ‘til the point of “perfection,” but what is that? Feeling as though you were just cast to play someone who you’re supposed to be instead of who you are Two Wardrobe change New day, different mask, who are you now Hurry up and take the stage, don’t trip and don’t slip because God forbid they see you through the cracks in the mask, closer the real you than anyone has ever been Those two seconds Before the rush and then You return, center stage, a character as bright as the lights above but inside, it’s close to an abyss Dark, unending, and you’ve already tripped and how you just. Keep slipping. Three It’s close to over now, you’re almost out of breath, using your last seconds to keep up this dacade Because you want this to be who they remember, the perfect, the effortless As if you’re playing the role of angel and if you keep trying that’s who you’ll become And then you see it The lights start to dim and the clapping dies as the silence consumes all the air in your lungs Curtains close The end