Called to Stage

I was happy to take my seat and watch the play.

The actors would soon take their positions on stage.

They were well practiced in their roles.

For most, this wasn’t their first show.

Suddenly, with a hurriedness that caught me off guard,

a woman I only recently met

and came to embrace

now embraced me.

She was holding me.

Then others rushed me.

Before I realized what they wanted from me,

and with little communication,

they all flurried around me.

One grappling my body,

the rest touching all over my face.

Wasn’t this against the rules?

I didn’t think it was allowed

for me to surrender control to anyone.

I’m uncomfortable in my mind,

but involuntarily

I submit to this tornado of sensations.

I’m rushed through the double doors

into an auditorium and full audience.

They all look to me.

Ahead on stage

I see my fellow production players

all in their proper positions.

They look at me in their costumes

with soft, gentle, welcoming stares.

They were here before me.

They have been waiting for me

to finally arrive.

I was the final player

before this full production could commence.

I wasn’t even aware

that this is where I was meant to be.

Who is it

that they are anticipating?

What was it that led me here in this

flurry of activity?

The kisses of makeup.

The hugs of wardrobe.

Who was it I was becoming?

Now, as if teleported from my body,

I became the man behind the camera,

zooming out,

an observer of this new character

of their conception

I scan around

to see myself from their perspective.

Who had I become?

Whose face was this?

It looked familiar,

like someone that I knew in my youth.

But now it had the softness

of a Snapchat filter,

rosy blush and a pink nose,

cute dotted freckles on my cheeks

like the innocent paw prints

of a baby cat

in fresh snow.

My clothes tattered

with the adventures of a lost boy,

but they fit me so well.

Finally,

in this inner, childlike reflection

of my true self,

my role in this friendly production of life

was revealed.

They had chosen me

to be Peter Pan.