"Finding the Future Me"

Since very early in my freshman year,

New Milford’s theater has been my home.

Not on the stage; I’m lighting in the rear,

but in about a month I will roam

to college. Someone new must take my place;

they’ll do the lights for assemblies and plays.

I was hoping that a familiar face

would replace me, and spend the rest of their days

at NMHS up in the lighting booth,

illuminating speeches, choirs, PowerPoints and more.

But after all my searching not one youth

was willing to agree to do my chore.

At first I was upset—I didn't want

to leave without passing on all I know,

like where are keys, and all the ghosts that haunt

the light board and turn off electricity mid-show.

With one week left before I am college bound,

I've given up on finding a replacement me.

Instead I will write a book on lights and sound

entitled NM Auditorium for Dummies.

"Shoe Dilemma"

I like to wear t-shirts and sweatpants or jeans
to all of my classes at school,
but one day this year all my fashion, it seems
is defined by a more fancy rule.

PROM is a day for dress and sparkles and shine
and makeup and hair curls galore.
I know my dress, but one thing's still on the line:
what will guard my feet from the floor?

I searched malls looking in this shoe store and that,
but not one thing had caught my eye.
I needed a silvery sparkly flat
or some kind of a heel-- not too high!

After days of searching, we thought we'd lost our chance.
I would just have to wear an old shoe,
but when I went to see friends go to their junior dance,
I saw exactly what I wanted! It's true!

The perfect shoe that I needed was there
on my friend's feet, to my surprise.
She told me where she bought them, I soon rushed there
and my prom shoes are the perfect size.

"What to Blog About"

The end of the year is approaching so fast.

Musical season has already past.

All of my classes are about to end.

The down payment for college I'm ready to send.

As graduation day is drawing near,

It has become to me extremely clear

That senioritis is kicking in.

All that I want to do is skip and spin.

On my to do list every day

Is a phrase written in for April and May.

"Write your english blog," my notepad proclaims.

The last project that keeps me from fun summer games.

We've been working on blogging since early this year.

Spell check and rhyme scheme always fills me with fear.

People think because of drama that this is a breeze,

But I'd rather be sick and do nothing but sneeze.

 

I wrote about the theater and all of it's troubles.

I wrote about choices that came in doubles.

I wrote about a job that I had in the past.

My range of topics wasn't very vast.

When I'm ready to blog I think over my choices.

Which struggle should I add to the pool of peer's voices?

I decided the struggle worth writing about

Was this blog, and I'm glad that I figured it out!

"The Gremlins Come Out on the Second Night"

After countless hours of preparation,

it was time to display our work to the entire nation.

The first show went off almost without a hitch:

the lights worked well and the cast stayed on pitch.

 As the second show approached, nerves were felt in the air.

“The gremlins will come out” people said everywhere.

There is an unlucky stigma following show number two

that the cast gets too comfy and so does stage crew.

 When the house lights came up and intermission began

everyone was thrilled that maybe they can

beat the gremlin rumor for once and for all;

unknowing that their hopes were about to fall.

 It was half way through Act II and all of a sudden

Leaf’s light stayed on when I pressed the next button.

Rob thought that perhaps it was his fault,

but on the next cue the board locked like a vault.

 We could not shift the light to the next cue or last,

It would only stay on about half of the cast.

Quickly we tried to swap out the disc

for our backup one, but that posed quite a risk.

 The disc did not work, it would not show up

on the screen, it kept reading as being corrupt.

Finally there was only one option left,

restart the board and hope that worked, except

 restarting the board would turn everything dark,

And run the risk of the actors missing their mark.

After two and a half minutes of running by hand,

the board was reincarnated on its stand.

 The gremlins came out as we expected.

But strangely this year the gremlins infected

the light board. After three minutes of haste

a solution was found that saved out face.

"The Dreaded Third MP"

Every year it is always the same,

the third MP gets me going insane!

You would think after midterms it would be

all about prom, but it isn't for me!

The musical's Spelling Bee is approaching fast.

I feel so sick I should be in a full body cast. 

There is more homework then ever before,

and an art show I have no time to prepare for.

All of this work has gotten me scared

that I'll forget about something: I feel unprepared!

I need a solution to all of my snares.

Alas! The solution was here the whole time!

A date book I can edit at the drop of a dime.

It will remind me when a project or essay is due

And when I need to do art or lighting, too!

I still have crazy amounts of work to do

But it's not as much stress when I know who

I need to please the quickest, and who can wait. 

When more work comes along, it's no biggie. I can just mark the date. 

"Dogs or Diploma?"

Just Pups is where most of my time was spent
playing with puppies under incandescent
lights that replaced the sun. Five days a week
I would watch the youngsters come in and freak
over the Morkies, Wheatens and Teddy Bears.

As school continued, work got really hard.
Piles of homework stretched at least a yard
into the sky. I thought it would be fine.
Balancing work and school made a fine line
that came to be one of my major cares.

All of a sudden, work began to slow.
Then one by one, the girls began to go
their separate ways- to college or to jobs
that paid like when people once came in mobs.
No longer were we to work shifts in pairs.

By ourselves we’d open and we’d close.
Flying solo had its cons and its pros.
For one, all of the bonuses were ours,
but we would walk alone out to our cars.
Working alone added to my despairs.

A big decision I now had to make:
focus more on school work, or go and take
the risk of fifty puppies and myself
being burgled. Should i stop playing elf?
Perhaps it’s time to leave my cuddly wares.

I talked it over with my mom and sis
we decided it would be worse to miss
the joys of senior year then have a job
that i loved but was scared it could be robbed.
School work won out despite my woeful tears.

And so I quit.

"My Offstage War"

I sit backstage at BergenPAC.

My headset on, the power in my hand,

at my stage management booth, dressed all in black.

I tell the actors to enter, walk, and stand

on center stage.

The show is running smoothly- I hear laughter

in the audience. I warn the crew it's almost curtain,

but I hear static in my ear "it's caught up on a rafter.

The curtain's stuck." My heart will stop, I am certain,

before the next page.

I can not leave my chair, so I whisper-yell

into my headset, "SOMEONE FIX THIS

BEFORE THE SONG ENDS. I tell

 the spotlight guy to GO,  he moves his

lever to engage.

Look up, there is a man scaling the wall,

hiding in the darkness with a  pole.

He reaches out, barely holding on at all

and knocks the curtain back; the whole

crew is relieved backstage.

The red curtain falls at the end of the act

I take a breather half way through the show.

Something backstage always goes wrong -- and that's a a fact--

but I hope that the audience will never know

the offstage war I wage.

For now I'm at peace.