All the World's a Stage

Left, left, right on left. Left, left, right on left.

Cadence ringing in my ears, shouting out for all to hear.

The combat boots that felt so new, familiar all the same,

pound the ground beneath me, and I'm the one to blame.

There was no clear competition, but still, I'd lost the game.

I made my choice to fall and crumble, now no more than a last name.

The high-school drop-out I still never recognized was me

was marking time with strangers, meanwhile searching for the key.

Shedding one's identity is not an easy task,

swallowing my pride was something once too much to ask,

but now I'd made a choice to come and turn my life around

so that maybe someday, I'd pound a different ground

and choose wooden boards, not gravel, as I march to my own drum,

living in the moment, feeling anything but numb

as I'll give all that I have left to give to live, feeling that standing ovation throughout my limbs as it roars through the crowd in my heart while I bring words to life and tell a truth or five and cry and laugh and bare the deepest pieces of my soul to accept the hardest thing I've ever faced.

My mind

is locked on center-face, as Corp Commander takes the stage,

two-hundred and ninety-two cadets about to turn the page,

as they wait for her to call "attention", allowing them to stand.

She looks at all the bodies, sitting, waiting for their chance.

A chance to stand

at her command

conviction in her voice

finally accepting

that this life had been her choice.

The cardstock from the air guard officer comes to her hand

She exits graduation, asking, "Where in this life will I stand?"

Eight months later, deep inside, she is aware of what's at stake,

knowing that her path has daunting choices she will make.

At attention. On the front line. Waiting for her cue to fire

off the lines infused with passion, anger, love, hate, and desire

as she embodies someone new, each and every play,

learning all about the world inside and outside, day by day,

taking to the stage, facing herself and then the world,

inside her happiness and joy in the moment then unfurl.

Confronting my inner demons, there'll be peace and inner strife,

but I know that for the better, acting has begun to change my life.