Gooey melted marshmallows drip of off sticks
Settled over the warmth of a fire
The fire spits red-hot embers at the cold ground
Hoping to spread its heat across the land
The chirping of ravens fills the air
That was once covered with harsh silence
That was broken by leaves crackling under rain boots
And the swishing river, flinging specks of water into the dry air like leaping ballerinas
Performing for no one,
I too once performed for no one
I went through back alleys like a getaway car cause the road couldn’t contain me
I hiked up a never-ending path of hopes and desires
I was on my way up
Until, I reached the top
And like a rose falls apart in the winter once there is nothing left to thrive on
Like snow covering the remaining survivors of a frostbitten fight
I lost my petals, I shrunk and I welted until I was nothing but a bud
Because I remained at the top but am broken like a shattered mirror my reflection  in pieces
So unrecognizable
I no longer felt the rush of cold air on my skin
My body felt fake as if I was trapped in a figurine
Because I no longer wanted to be performing for no one
I needed to be validated
I needed to be seen
I was now living in a horrifying nightmare
One where you wake up screaming
And you’re so relieved when you realize it isn’t real,
But it is real
And no matter how many times I’d pinch myself
I wasn’t waking up
I didn’t see the night sky as oblivion anymore
I saw it as black
I had lost my map of where to go
I didn’t even know
I had one to lose
But then,
As birds chirped in my ear and the gooey mess that was my treat flung on to the ground I looked up
And I noticed something so brilliantly beautiful
So hidden within daily life
So meaningful and yet so meaningless that it never comes up until the sun falls
I noticed that the stars come out at night
Even when no one is there to see them
When bodies are tucked away in beds with their curtains drawn
The stars dance in a sea of black like fish jumping in and out of a pond without worry,
Like a routine, they always show up just so they could be tucked away in a pocket for later the next night
And it dawned on me
In this moment
I was a bee sucking the nectar from a flower
I was a pencil in the hand of an artist
I was part of a bigger story
I was the frame holding a masterpiece
Not sticking out, but valuable
Not being given credit for holding things together
I was so important that I was forgotten,
People were so used to me being there
That if one day I wasn’t there
It’d be the only time I was remembered
So I realized
Even though people will not always relish in my achievements
Even if I am not the sun that wakes them up
Or the sugar they add to their coffee
I am needed
Like the stars,
Like the flowers
I may always be around for you see
But I will only perform for the letters written to make words
I perform for the rain making crops grow
I perform for the little things
The things that are brushed off
Because just like them
My performance doesn’t need to be seen
To be special