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Cheyenne Yacono May 2017
Click clack click*
We left the comfort of the amethyst curtain
Onto the stained wooden stage
The room is wide and filled with echoes
I stare into the red seats where identical faces sit
They show no emotion and I want them to feel
Feel anger, joy, sadness, something
My instructor paces across the stage towards the microphone
Hello
Suddenly the words that were to follow turn into muffles
All I can hear is my heart beat
They sound like quarter notes
The muffles end once my instructor is back in my sight
He exhales and smiles
The burning lights make him look like a god
He raises the baton and I forget everything
1...2...3...
We play the keys robotically but we breathe humanity
The notes trace our fingers and play your heart strings
Our slurs curve your lips into a smile
We want you to feel joy
We want you to remember childhood memories
It's not just kids with instruments
There are stories being told
We put our life into the instruments
We remember being called fools
And how we were wasting our time
We tell you our stories through these notes
Hoping you will feel what we felt
But we'll never know until the final note
When the baton goes down and we bow to the crowd
It's exhilarating
Delta Swingline Mar 2017
I stand in front of thousands of people, and I don’t know them, but I do know you...

When I was ten years old I wanted to be in the Olympics, an athletes dream in front of millions of people I don’t know. But I know you.

I stood on the podium, a stage of glory and pride for my country, medal around my neck, as the national anthem plays through my ears I begin to remember that I was gonna be a soldier.

At 14 years old I told you I wanted a badge or a medal, a uniform to wear, and something to fight for. And here I am standing on this stage about to receive recognition for my job.

And 15 year old me standing on a stage in front of thousands of people, with a guitar strapped around my body. And I’m singing a song I wrote, and only you know why I wrote it. The secrets I don’t tell the public are told to the people I really do trust in this world.

And yet here I am on a stage in front of people I don’t know.

Do you remember? I told you that you didn’t need to be remembered by the whole world by putting your name on a star in the sky. The sky doesn’t need another star, but Earth has it’s own star with your name on it, and it’s you.

And you don’t need to be remembered by thousands of people to be happy, you just needed me to remember you when I stand here.

You asked me to never forget you if I ever became famous. And I’m not famous. But you should be, you’re the star remember. You believed in me, told me I was worth something, enough to be here on this stage. So why aren’t you here? You are worth remembering, so why don’t you want to be famous? Why don’t you want to be on stage? I have a constant fear of never being remembered and you don’t want to be that person. Why do you not want to be on this stage? I want you here. I need you here.

I stand on a stage in front of people. Most of them, I do not know. I don’t remember why I’m on the stage anymore… But I know that you’re proud of me for whatever reason that might be.

I remember saying some sort of speech to these people, and suddenly you’re here. I can see you in the crowd, and you’re smiling. You seem so happy to see me here, almost as if you were on the stage beside me. And I wish you were. But I know you don’t need to be remembered by these people, but I remember you.

And when my speech comes to a close I say this: “Thank you, to the star in life who never made it to the sky, I just want you to know in this moment. That we made it!
If I ever become famous, this can be proof that I predicted my own future.
Mark Donnelly Nov 2016
Spotlights on glare is hot,
People look with waiting stare,
I stumble to remember,
Their voices present inside,
As I find within what I must present,
I have practiced long and hard,
Their moment and mine entwined,
Their realty in my grasp,
My courage floods in waves,
And my voice powers,
I remind those in my midst of what I bring,
Their ears sing as do mine,
As I reminding the world of my gift.
It's hard to say what you want to say.
MJ Jul 2016
When did I become a circus lion
Performing just to receive your praise?
It is just an illusion, a practiced act,
And now the dead you think you can raise.

I've done everything you tell me to.
I've been all you tell me to be.
I've put on this show for you.
Won't you please just set me free?

The cage can't contain my hostile spirit.
This costume is harsh on my scars.
I can't spend one more day forcing joviance.
I need to be free of these bars.
Jackilyn Teague Mar 2016
It’s addiction
It’s necessity
It’s the reason I won’t give up.

Everything makes sense
On stage
Or inside a circle.
I live in a state of “when”
Not “if”
When I make it
When I’m independent
There is no room for failure
I won’t allow it
Won’t have it.
I’ll keep going until I’m on top
My future is non-stop.

It’s the only thing I’m driven to
It makes me see through
The anxiety
The frustration
The lack of clarity.
It’s all that makes sense.
I spent my life dreaming
Now it’s time to start doing.
No more listening to my blood
They convince me I can’t
But all I know is the urge inside
This thirst I can't ignore
To go for it
To take a chance
To create.
To tell stories with my words
My body
And my heart.

It’s addiction
It’s necessity
It’s what I’m working for.
I was inspired to write this after filming an impromptu hoop dance sequence for my Instagram. It made me remember why I love dance and performing in general and I just had to put it into words because I'm in a place in my life where I can no longer ignore my passions or the fact that performing and writing are the only things I have any drive to do.
Cody Haag Oct 2015
Why girl must you stare back at me, with such sad, sad eyes?
You're a mirror of the pain I've been going through, an image of my pain in disguise.
As the lyrics flow off of the page, and the melodies fade softly away from your lips,
I know that you are like me, given nothing but worthless chips.
Chips to cast and play, in the game called life,
While others play the game, with cards to avoid tremendous pain and strife.

Why do you sing this soul-tearing song with me?
Each lyric is a ballad to the pain I've come to need.
We're all alone right now, in the emptiness of our despair,
Perhaps this pain we're singing about was always meant for us to bear.

Out of any song that is beautiful, heartfelt, and melodic,
We chose the song that we can sing, sounding somewhat neurotic.
Perhaps this pain is a twisting trail, like the notes on our page,
or the words, leaving our lips as we stand together on stage.

When our song is over, maybe the pain will subside,
fading away into the lyrics, we can try to lock away and hide.
Our past is tortured and haunted by the remnants of what could have been,
But that's all been put away now, leaving us closer than ever, true friends.
I'll never do you wrong; I swear it on the notes that leave my lips, the tugs I feel pulling on my heart.
You've hurt me and I've hurt you; that was our tormented start.

Maybe we don't have to hide in these lyrics anymore, maybe we can hide in each other, opening up another door.

A door for happiness; a door for new found pain.
We'll never heal these wounds that have damaged us, leaving us broken and stained.
The best we can do is cover up the pain,
Masking it with something, that hurts somewhat the same.
I hope you like it. :)
Violet Blue May 2015
Sitting watching
the play today
Things seemed
Almost
Perfect

A good friend on my right
Laughing her silly laugh
Pulling faces
Leaning against me
Laughing uncontrollably
Loud and high pitched

Him
On my left
Sitting as close as possible
Feeling his breath on my arm
Ice cold fingers
Piercing my skin
Leg pressed against mine
Hearing his soft laughter in my ear
And his stupidly funny
Witty comments

Sitting
Laughing
Watching
Peacefully
With some of my
Favourite people
Surrounding me
Together
In harmony
Enjoying the show
aar505n Oct 2014
You can't separate
the actor from the character
they're not mutually exclusive
but brutally intrusive.

We put a little bit of ourselves
into the roles that we act
extracts of our souls
dripping out
slowly bleeding our hearts dry
from acting out our parts

Pouring everything
into faux characters
to engage with our rage
while onstage
unknowingly
constructing our own cage

We think no-one can see
the lies we tell
when we wear our masks
but our eyes betray us
with irises on fire
arises our desire
from the words we yell

Burning eyes behind stone masks
that shows them our hell
Just something I've noticed, Tell me what you think!
Rose Ruminations Oct 2014
I tread on the tightrope
Suspended between thinking too little
And thinking too much

I balance precariously
Tiptoeing towards optimism
But humanity sways me
And I shakily creep
Towards despair

The costume chafes
There is not enough chalk on my shoe
The lights are too bright
And a pearly bead of self-awareness
Trickles past my temple
And drips on the dirt baseness
A thousand feet below

And yet--

The crowd smiles
And gasps
And cheers
And claps
And I am reminded
That everything
Is a show

So I smile
And I bow
With a flourish
And I soak in the adoration

And try to forget
That the struggle repeats
Each night
In each town

But the show can
And does
Go on
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