The walk up became macabre
Time slowed down
Heavy breath of others was a breeze that
scared me
One missed step and I fall to my face
Burps of sulphur and weakness took over

I hear the crowd scream when the first person goes on
Then the next
And then Jacobus
My heart sinks into my stomach

Crowd quos me back to reality
He whispers to me as we become parallel to each other.
My skin crawls as I
Taste the salt
Dripping
Down my
Face

Heart beats so fast I can hear it over the screams and claps
I scan for a quick exist out
The crowd settles
Mind becomes a tornado
I begin anyway

Crowd cheers
Perfection takes me away until
The end
Words stumble and trip over the tracker in my mind

I got back there with light blazing
I didn’t care
Stage fright gone
Courage took me to the stage
Now every time I go up there I feel like I’m
Home