Alive

An energy circle: hands clasped tight, heavily made-up eyes squeezed shut. Silence except for the distant buzz of audience members filing in and the click-clack of shifting character heels.

Then we break apart big smiles, inadvisable cheers. "Break a leg!" is neither a threat nor an ominous warning instead, it's a prayer, a comforting mantra.

Where bright lights meet red lips and styrofoam sets When I can't explain, except to say that I am finally alive When we start off a half-step sharp from the nerves and pull it off anyway,

that is what I live for.