On Stage (POEM)

The competition entry is finished!

I think.

No doubt I could keep finding things to change, but there comes a point where you have to settle on it, and the only query I had about the competition – whether it is okay to include swearing – has been clarified (the answer was, essentially, “Swear away!” – which also made me chuckle a great deal). I’ll post my effort in a couple of days when it’s been submitted, so for now here’s a silly little piece I came up with this afternoon:

On Stage

I hate reading
Out loud
Before a crowd,
Expectations exceeding

The performance
Of which
I am capable of delivering,
And that soon turns into a rambling mess
From which there is no escape so I finish by looking like
A fool.