The Greatest Performance of My Life

A small desire like a spark, I do not know lit from where, Frenzy of becoming an orator in me did flair; I watched often, like blackbirds, seldom shutting my eye-lids, Each speech of great orators, staying solid like lipids...! It's time to perform - said well-wishers, relatives and friends, Good-time was what all waited for anxieties to cleanse; I was then a little boy just reaching adolescence, Emotions and feelings had invaded my common-sense...! There came, as though the final judgment, the appointed day, I was ready, on our school stage, to perform my best way; All applauded, as I entered the stage very happy, Why this tremor? Why blankness of mind? Why heart goes flabby...? Many laughed, howled and hooted; my kith and kin stood perplexed; I left the dais, like a lunatic, humbled and vexed; Pain of shame, like bark scorpion, my internals did sting, Despair and frustration within, like eagles, did spread wing...! I went dumbstruck and plunged into a cave of silence, Knowing, my people left me to my inner violence; That I come out, like a lion, courageous and robust, Excel in performance, full of self-confidence and trust...! What clicked, then, exactly, I still verily do not know, Was it the resolve within that like flood of lava, flow? My oration out-poured like a cloudburst, thunderously, In this art, now, I shine like Sirius star, wondrously...! 31 May 2022 The Greatest Performance of My Life Poetry Contest Sponsored by: JCB Brul