Geoa Geer

On a Stage


Good evening I say
As I nervously begin
Good evening, good day
As my eyes scan the crowd
They must see my panic
God, they must!
With my quivering hand
Holding this trembling paper
Or my eyes,
Who refuse to stop moving
What about my voice?
Oh God, my voice!
Trembling and trembling
Like a moth caught in a breeze
Or, better yet!
A howling, fierce wind, tearing through the air
Hunting down the moth that started that damnable monsoon …
Lord, it's windy up here ..
But! I’m ready now!
Don’t give me that look
C’mon! I’m ready! Really!
Look, here I am
On a stage
Bright lights blinding
Fingers tapping
Ears critiquing
Eyes staring
Most of which, by the way,
Are badly hiding
Their amusement
Of my silly, stupid attempt
To speak of something
To speak of the little idea-gophers
That pop up and down in my head,
In and out of my mind
Ready to hide at any sign of danger
Ahh, the renowned bravery of gophers …
But, seriously though
I am ready
You must not have noticed
How psyched I am to be here
Scared - hell yea
But excited too.
And all ‘cuz of those stupid, lil gophers …
They chatter, you know, oh how they chatter
Of their great-great-uncle’s adventures
Of far-off places,
With magnificent splendor that fills the heart with joy
Of peace that none can fathom
Those gophers,
They feed rockets to my burning imagination
Creating shocking displays of fireworks
Sometimes beautiful, sometimes ungainly
But they’re there nonetheless
‘Cuz all they want, all I want
Is to tell someone of these things
To release the fireworks unto the world
And see how far they go, if at all

Hey, why don’t you come along?
Maybe you could rest awhile
From life’s dithers and dathers
Sit with me, and just listen
‘Cuz I think the show’s about to start


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Copyright © 2002-2006 Student Publishing Program (SPP). Poetry and prose © 2002-2006 by individual authors. Reprinted with permission. Contents photo from LHS Yearbook Staff. SPP developed and designed by Strong Bat Productions.