Preoccupation of a Performer

What do they see in this dull image
What phrase is expressed in this dillusional dance
Do they see a soul striving for success
Or rather a hopeless meaningness

This is the performance this is the dance
This is the portrait of a trance
What is seen, what is felt
What is touched, what is smelt
The hand, the head, the heart
The soul rises and falls upon every phrase
Forever longing the external praise

Never to begin, never again
This is the end, this is the end
Stumbling with no stopping in sight
There is terror in the light
There is anguish in the night

Hide behind the shadows
Expression is plain
No one need know
The inner pain

Dreamt a dream that seemed real
Still, yet still the memory has lost its thrill
It never will, it never will (be)
It was never real
This the soul will never feel

A shadow a sham
Is this what I am
Is this who I am

-Joshua Lee Foist