call for the understudy

you call for your understudy
to step in
for tonights performance, you
can't go on.
your stage fright has finally
caught up with you
you are nervous,
sweating, your throat
is constricted
with phobic fear. what
were you thinking in
taking this role on.
the commitment, the energy,
the pretending
night after night repeating
your lines
which seem false and unsure.
surely the audience must know
as they sit there staring
at you,
row after filled row.
perhaps tomorrow, a matinee,
you'll change your mind.