She stand back from the crowd
music blasting in her ears
so she can drown out the world,
she pulls her sweat shirt off
and puts her hat and mask on.
Stepping through the crowd
making her way to her podium
her pedestal, her stage.
The whistle blows loud and
she snaps out of it coming back
to the real would.
She steps onto her platform
digging her feet into the sandpaper
so she wont fall. The director
says the words she has herd all
her life and she does what she is told.
When the beep sounds she flies
off her platform with so much
strength and enter the water free,
her body flows through as if she was
made from water. Someone walks by
bumping her accidentally throwing her back
to reality, music still pounding in her ears
she pulls off her sweat shirt for real this
time seeing the eyes of her competitors on
her, sizing her up as she does the same.
But she hears there thoughts in her own
head instead.
Impostor.
Pretender.
Fake.
She turns the volume up a little more not wanting
to hear the unsaid words. But looks up to see
she is to late. She takes her music out with
shaking hands and puts her hat and mask on
and makes her way over to her block when
the impossible loud whistle blows she climbs
up shaking. She hears the beep but the
powerful dive doesn’t come, instead she falls
in, she moves her muscles trying to find her spot
but all she can hear in her head are the words
unsaid, and the stairs of her competitors,
herself.