#243 Speech! Speech!

I cannot think of what to say

It's as if all the words have left me

Left speechless for much of the day

Mouth hanging open for all to see

It's important that I get it out

I wrote a speech and everything

I tense turn red and try to shout

But nothing at all squeaks out

This is all in my head

I tell myself bravely

Even as I feel the heat of a thousand stares

Every one of them leering and beastly

I'm furniture

I'm invisible

Chairs don't talk

So nor do I

I couldn't even walk

The moment has come

For the very first time

I squint into the spotlight

And try to read the line

I'm in a safe place

With my closest friends

They will not judge me

I will not need to make amends

Then the words flow freely

Tumbling from my lips

Pronounced just so

My fear becoming eclipsed

The timing is working

Just how I'd rehearsed

In front of my mirror

Plunging on headfirst

Almost at the end

I make my final point

And end it all on a light note

And the audience chuckles with mirth

I wipe the sweat from my brow

And gently clear my throat

I open my eyes and peek around the curtain

At the audience waiting to hear what I'd wrote

This won't be so bad

I refuse to despair

After all

Every singe one of them is in their underwear