Audience

Places marked with x’s in tape,

Hearts beat as we take our spots,

Muttered tempos, nervous hands,

Counting down the seconds.

I peer out, and I see you.

My audience.

For a moment, we are equal in darkness,

Then the lights go up,

I lose sight of you,

And I become what you want me to be.

But in that moment, in the breath before the blazing lights,

Is when I truly see.