Spotlights & Smoke - Poem

 Earlier this week, I was watching a concert documentary about one of my favorite bands. The video showcased a full concert the group performed in Las Vegas, as well as discussed the unique stories of the band members' life, both personally and professionally. One shot from their live performance was of the bands' lead singer, on stage with all the spotlights unfocused around him. That picture turned the cogs of my brain and made me think about creating a poem around the prompt of "Spotlight & Smoke", which, I am now sharing with you.

While writing it, two main ideas were going through my mind. Firstly, creating a poem about a young performer who despite achieving massive success and superstar fame, knows that his supporters and friends where there with him, during his hardships and they are a huge part to the reason why he is on that stage performing.

Secondly, I felt this was a beautiful idea for the month of Elul and Rosh Hashana, how each of us are performers on the stage of life and how we perform and act before G-d, who gives us everything, makes a difference. We must remember that we are performing on His stage, only thanks to his love and kindness that graces every single element of our lives.

I hope you will enjoy the poem

Best Wishes,

Yitzy Schweitzer

Spotlights & Smoke - Poem
On the stage of life, my performance is seen,
By family, friends, cousins, everyone else in between,
My success, my triumphs, my smiles.
They also cheer me on through the coughing and tears,
Staying loyal and close, being joy in the fears,
Walking beside me for miles.

All eyes on me now,
So, I look out to the crowd,
Feeling the energy, so loud,
I start to sing as I bow.

These performances are true,
They are all you going to view,
The spotlights and smoke won’t deceive you,
Because, you know, yellow was never blue.

So, I sing and a story I tell,
The audience knows me, the understand it so well,
The tales of times gone by,
Now, I am the star of this big show,
But all I want is the audience to know,
I’m grounded, despite having limitless skies.

All eyes on me now,
So, I look out to the crowd,
Feeling the energy, so loud,
I start to sing as I bow.

These performances are true,
They are all you going to view,
The spotlights and smoke won’t deceive you,
Because, you know, yellow was never blue.

Twists and turns, you were there with me,
Never losing faith, knowing what I can be,
Now I am here, all I can say,
Thank you, it is the only way.

These performances are true,
They are all you going to view,
The spotlights and smoke won’t deceive you,
Because, you know, yellow was never blue.