My sister was invited to a music festival,
With her angel voice so sweet and pure,
A festival in which the best come together,
To sing in harmony all day long.

I yearned to go with her,
But it seemed impossible,
As I needed a teacher recommendation.
When an old teacher found out,
She was shocked!
Now suddenly I had my own invitation.

My mom signed us up, both my sister and me,
For “an experience we’ll never forget,”
Yet the fear remained,
In addition to pain,
At what we discovered next.

Groups were assigned, divided by age,
And I saw the week with sudden clarity:
I would sit alone, in a chair that was part of a big semicircle,
Silent, lonely and afraid.

Cliques sat in circles as lunch,
Their joy and excitement evident in their screamed banter,
Underneath a little tree I sat,
Dreaming that I could be somebody different.

At the end of the week, I concluded
That I wanted to sing in the seasonal choir.
Hand in hand, my sister and I sang “Row, row, row your boat,”
And glided our way into Lyric Choir.

During the year, my confidence grew,
Both in my talents and in myself.
Because I had done something that terrified me,
I no longer wished I was someone else.