Festival

Long day

past where morning sun shines and into the dark huskiness of night

fluorescent lights beating down 

then flickering off

a fanfare

a reflection

a redemption

a light-a-candle-say-a-prayer dance

a special moment built from

the way silver-tinged brass bursts triumphantly and fills the room

how the steady beat and shaker go

voices merging to echo sound we know but can't sing

the squeaky softness of plastic and reeds

the cold hard warmth under our fingertips

the heavier notes

                                               and the lighter ones

the friends you try to make 

and the friends you already have

laughter then bone-tired exhaustion

seeps in

and there are hugs

in the corner of a building

with bleachers and bags and chairs and stuff

you've been here for ten hours in your clothes just waiting

and playing

and working

and trying to make it through

and trying to reach out

there are jokes

there are shadows underneath their eyes

there is joy

there is sleep waiting for you

at the end of the tunnel

you power through

the others

it's your turn

you do what you do best

with the people you barely talked to

you put yourself inside it

the fanfare

the reflection

the redemption

the light-a-candle-say-a-prayer dance

pieces you knew by yourself but now

now you know them with people

with life 

with

                              P   A   S   S   I   O   N   !

big and bold and loud

small and wavering and quiet

it is in every beat

it is in every connection you make

it is in everything you've done here

you see your work in the rafters

you beam at the man who made it possible

and the man you met this morning

you smile like the life's back in you after death

goosebumps shoot up your arms and down your spine

you are alive

you are free

this is why we're here