Opening Night

I'm standing in the wings -
statue still, completely numb.
Too late to say, "no wait! What if-- ?"
An immobile tongue renders me, in toto, dumb.
Alas, can this be me, standing here,
where I so longed to be;
yet rigid, stiff?
No turning back now.
No second chance.
The opportunity is here; my time to dance.
The curtains slowly part,
the play begins.
Gone the trepidation, the butterflies.
I step upon the stage
only the finale cries.