Stage Fright: A Poem | The Odyssey Online
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Stage Fright: A Poem

This metaphor poem shows that fear can be a blessing and a curse.

Kelsey Matthews
Feb 13, 2017
Kalamazoo College
714
Stage Fright: A Poem
Jay Otto

It zips around my head

near my heart,

by my stomach.

A beautiful, yet strange, feeling.

I know

the people who pass can see it.


It will not leave me be;

this new friend

won't go away.

I can't shake it,

but it's okay.


It lands on my head,

this dragonfly.

My heart rate quickens

and my stomach churns.

A beautiful, yet strange, experience.

I know

the people who pass look at me now.


I am afraid

that this dragonfly will leave,

Yet terrified

that it may stay.

For if it leaves, I have nothing.

If it stays, I have too much.


Breathing deeply,

I brush it away

as I head onstage.

People will look at me

if I leave it there.


Then,

As quickly as it came,

I feel relief

as it finally goes,

Though it is not far.


Deep within me,

I sense the dragonfly is still there,

on the ceiling,

somewhere, because

I know

that I can no longer be "me"

without it.

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