Fading Spotlight

A cycle of poems «Everything Hurts and I Am Almost Famous»

The stage lights dim to memory,
Like Polaroids losing clarity.
My reflection in the trophy cracks,
A one-hit wonder fading black.

They used to scream my name so loud,
Now even echoes don't stick around.

I'm chasing that fading spotlight,
Like it's the last train home tonight.
Every clap feels like goodbye,
Every cheer just magnifies
How loud the silence grows
When nobody really knows
The boy behind the broken show -
Just watch him go...

My leather jacket's wearing thin,
Like the excuses for where I've been.
The billboards changed, the fans moved on,
To newer ghosts to sing along.

My greatest hits are bathroom stalls,
And "whatever happened to..." phone calls.

I'm chasing that fading spotlight,
Like it's the last train home tonight.
Every clap feels like goodbye,
Every cheer just magnifies
How loud the silence grows
When nobody really knows
The boy behind the broken show -
Just watch him go...

"Encore!" they shout - but for who?
The me they want or the me they knew?
The curtain falls like a final breath...
Fame's just life support for death.

I'm losing that fading spotlight,
Like tears in rain tonight.
The stage was just a gilded lie,
The love was conditional highs.
Now the dark's my only friend,
Where all bright things come to end.
Burn the posters, keep the pain -
True fame's just learning to fade away...

"House lights up... show's over..."