Jars of Stars

Red and Blue

The timer ticks by
Red bulbs blipping back and forth
Shoes squeak and scuffle, knotted foreheads dripping sweat
Girls in tight dresses ruffle their pompoms, cheer in extra-treble voices
Basketballs bounce, skin and ground burn together, limbs collide
Whistles jet their snappy scolds,
The audience holds their breaths
As the ball falls nonchalantly through the net
On stage, I am a rock,
A boulder. Unaffected
Clarinet reed-side-down on my lap
As a crowd of parents and their kids clap and clap and clap
My chair is black, my hair is brown
Cascading from my head down past my shoulders
My eyes are grayish blue
And everything else is red.
Faces on fire, teeth bared, eyes glaring
Athletes stammer with their feet
Jumping around like apes, their tan skin
Gleaming in the bright lights
The floor is light brown, shining with wax
Lined with red marks tracing different borders I don't know the purpose of.
The audience gives another rumble of applause
The ball ricochets between palm and floor.
Everything is hectic.
I am a shore. Ocean overlapping the sand
Two stagnant eyes, two calm hands
Only touching the silver buttons on my instrument, unless it's resting
I am a lagoon
Surrounded by a land on fire
The flames gobble up their trees
Snack on the shrubs
But they keep to themselves
And I do, too
Rush my tiny fish along
Comb through the seaweed with my fingers
Toss the neon strands of the anemones.
The players keep on shuffling, scuffling, muffling their screams
The dancers keep posing, laughing, flipping - tumbling in the sky like single winged birds
Streaking and exploding with blonde hair and red ribbons
The timer keeps on blipping,
Skipping from three
To two
To one
We are finally done.
I go back home
While some people leave theirs
To go to their houses,
From red to blue.