Reflections winner: 'Curtain Call'

Editor's note: The following is the winning entry for "Outstanding Interpretation" in the high school literature category of the Bigfork PTA's 2011 Reflections Art Scholarship Program. Read more about the program in "PTA displays student work at museum."

It all starts with an empty stage

Quiet like night on the barren set

Silence across a group of kids

Who don't know what they're in for yet

Flying time and flying feet

Make the next weeks pass in a whirl

Voices sing and the dances flow

A step, then two, then spin and twirl

But the days all fade into this one night

We are ready, our time is here

As we stand backstage we clutch our sides

Twisted with nerves and fear

Costumes dress our bodies

Our lines are all we say

We've all but disappeared

To the characters we play

Feet pounding on a hollow stage

Set to the music and lights

Act one, act two, then all is gone

The end of the night of nights

The crowd stands and the clapping roars

To which we set our bow

And join each other, hand in hand

Together we're a family now.