This Stage

For class I had to write a poem about a special place.

The smell of hairspray and make up fills my nose,
The crowd is hushed in anticipation,
I breathe in deeply and take center stage
And shift into someone other than myself.
This stage has seen the many people that I have become:
A palace guard with a little voice,
A student in heavy winter boots,
A dancer with an undying smile,
And a reporter with a secret plan.
And this stage has borne the likes of
A business woman with promotion in mind,
A poor widow easily beguiled,
A flirt with a diabolical scheme,
And a runaway bride to scared to own up to love.
This stage has beheld my laughter and tears,
My successes and my failures,
This stage has heard me scream and rage,
This stage has heard me beg and plead.
But when the curtain falls
And the lights go down,
This stage no longer sees a character in a play
This stage looks through all the masks
Into the very core of me.