Onstage
You are face to face with monsters all the time
All around you, they devour you; a part of you
Critiquing, waiting, anticipating your stumble
Only to watch you fall into a
mental pit
Cursing, mocking, laughing
Hoping that you stay down, down forever
Chershiring the opportunity to end it all for you;
Starving creatures pouncing at the chance to drag you down
You must be flawless,
A blissful angel when performing
Every fouette on pointe
Every arabesque exaggerated
You must sell yourself
Contort your body to such an
extent that some might even consider
Inhumanly possible
To silence the monsters
To keep them second guessing
Truth be told; You are not always filled with rejoice, gratefulness,
and happiness
Every day you question yourself if you can go on
No one knows about your devastating pain
Anxious to rip you apart
And fling you like a rag doll
Thousands of miles away from your dreams, your goals
So close, yet so far
Demons pray you will fall off a cliff and shrivel up.
Like a worm exposed to the rays of the sun
You will call for help
Get me away from this pain, this living nightmare, this world
Please… someone, help
Unfortunately, your pleading voice is too quiet for any soul to hear
Then you see a vague memory
Very faint
Trickling through your brain
You remember...
Your first lesson. So naive. If you’d known how much of a
rollercoaster it would be to get to where you are today
How much you wanted to run,
to hide, to quit
Just a block of clay
But you didn’t
Molded as close to perfection as perfection can get...
That day I was grateful to my instructor
I thanked her for her encouraging words before I set out to perform
I stood up, brushed myself off
Looked around and sighed a deep sigh
I danced my way, the entire way
From the cliff of demons, from the silent but deadly critiques
Dancing for miles upon miles on end
Until I had no other place to dance
Except onstage
-Jessica Airhienbuwa
I believe that the central idea is perseverance. One line that focuses on this is "That day I was grateful to my instructor I thanked her for encouraging words before I set out to perform." This line is saying that her instructor helped her believe that she could go on stage and perform.
ReplyDeleteAmazing piece Jessica! I really like how you mostly kept the stanzas to 2 lines, each of them having their own impact. I also thought that the italics were a very nice touch to emphasize some of the lines differently. The line, 'Get me away from this pain, this living nightmare, this world' is hauntingly beautiful, and having it in italics to show it as your thinking really gives more to the poem.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem the author did a great job setting the mood. She made it feel very empty and sad. One way she did this was when she said "everyday you question if you can go on" and "No one knows about your devastating pain anxious to rip you apart". This makes the poem seem empty and filled with sorrow.
ReplyDeleteYour use of lines to support your central idea are quite exemplitary. The Central idea I would come up with is relentlessness. The lines you used to support that where " I danced my way, the entire way from the cliff of demons, from silent but deadly critiques". I also thought that your last stanza also had a very good role in supporting this central idea. I believe both of those lines represent your unwillingness to give up.
ReplyDeleteI love how deep and heartfelt your poem is, My favorite part from the poem is when you talk about being afraid and wanting to quit but continued to strive on to be what you wanted to be. For example when you said "Your first lesson. So naive. If you’d known how much of a rollercoaster it would be to get to where you are today, How much you wanted to run, to hide, to quit...Just a block of clay. But you didn’t,molded as close to perfection as perfection can get..." It shows you had a flame burning greatly fueled by your determination to achieve your dreams and to be the best of the best.
ReplyDelete