No time to revise.
No final practice with your coach.
The clock at the end of the hall
continues to remind
that the time you have left is small.
It’s just you and the other speechies.
It’s just you and the wall.

Fix your hair.
Look prepared.
Take out your 3-paged script
so neatly taped to black paper.
Your mouth is dry…
One more drink of water
and you’ll be fine.

Fears and doubts
run through your mind.
That judge walking past
doesn’t look so kind.
You fake a smile.
To yourself you say,
I hope everything goes okay.

No time to rewrite your intro.
No changing your mind.
All you hear is the sound
of the clock ticking away…
The time that you have left is small.
It’s just you and these crazy speechies.
It’s just you and the wall!

Or is it?

Things look different.
Time slows.
God is there with you.
You know.
It’s not just you and the other speechies.
It’s not just you and the wall.
Walls don’t listen.