Many years ago in grade school, I think it was grade three,
The school board had decided to hold a spelling bee.
And all the student's parents were invited to attend
To see if their own boy or girl would be winner at the end.

I, like all the others, was required to compete
And being good at spelling wasn't worried of defeat.
The contest started out ok with easy words to spell
Which gradually grew much harder as each contestant fell.

The spelling bee continued for at least an hour or more
And I remained unbeaten among just three or four.
When my turn came I rose to spell the word he offered me,
But when he spoke my world collapsed as you shall plainly see.

My word was niece, a simple word which I knew that I could spell,
And he finished with a sentence that explained the word as well,
"You are my niece" and suddenly my mind was filled with fear
For from the crowd there came the sound of laughter loud and clear.

I didn't see the humor then as well as I do now,
I only knew they laughed at me and felt at fault somehow.
You think you know the ending and of course you'll find you're right,
For I spelled niece N-E-I-C-E from panic, shame and fright.

But no, that's not the end of it as you shall finally see,
And though I lost at spelling that was not the tragedy.
The tragedy was as I know now, not the spelling wrong or right,
But that it left a permanent scar, a phobia called stage fright.

This is a true story!

| Return to Poetry Index |
| Seniors-Site Homepage | E-Mail | Site Master |

Last Upgrade 5/30/96