The Choir ♫ The Battle

They walk in



Flawlessly



They step onto the risers



Not a word is spoken



Their director turns around



She faces the audience



Smiling



She introduces her choir



The one she's trained so hard



All year



She stands waiting



For the judges to nod



They do



She turns and grins at her choir



Her army



She whispers



"You can do this"



They grin back



She looks to their accompanist



Now it's her turn to nod



Her approval



As she gets ready to lead her choir



Her army



To a one



She closes her eyes



Takes a deep breath



Taps her foot



Begins to move her hands



Her arms



And softly counts



"One, two, three"



All in one instant



Every choir member is on edge



Ready to fight



With their voice





The piano starts



It's master's hands flying over the keys



Smoothly



Quickly



Bravely



One slip could throw the whole choir



Off guard



One wrong note



Could cause them to cringe



And lose focus



Causing them to lose this battle



The piano intro is over



It's time





The first notes come out



Loudly



Clearly



Confidently



The notes pour



Out of each choir members' mouth



Like a second language



To the ones who truely want to win



This battle



It is



Each member prays



That their voices won't crack



That their weapons won't break



Not now





Back at the director



Her motions grow smaller



As dynamics come into play



The choir's voice is small now



Just like their sheet music



Their battle plans



Implied



The director moves her arms



Carefully



Proudly



Gracefully



One beat lost



Could confuse her army



Of young singers



A counting failure



Could throw off the piano player



Creating a domino effect



Causing their whole battle plan



To spiral





Out of control



At the height of the song



The director's motions are large



Exuberant



You can see the music building



Inside of her soul



She's trying not to dance too much



She closes her eyes



A smile creeps across her face



Covering her features



In a warm glow



The kind that is only brought



By music





The piano is loud



The player's fingers seem to be



Detached from his hand



From his body



As they dance over the keys



His feet hold down one pedal



Then let go



And hold another



Beads of sweat



Pop onto his brow



But underneath are two eyes



Smiling



With the joy



Of music





The sopranos soar with the high notes



The altos glide through the middle notes



The tenors squeeze between



The middle and low notes



With ease



The basses creep beneath with the lowest notes



So quietly



But still



Every part is strong



They wonder why



They must stand so still



Why they can't jump off the risers



And dance like their director



Why they can't let themselves be taken over



Completely



By



The music





The choir belts out



Their final notes



With pride



The director cuts them off



With a smile



Still on her face



The pianist relaxes



As he plays



The final few measures



Then



It's done





Silence



Director



Accompanist



Choir



All are taking deep breaths



All are light headed



All are grinning



All of them



Are one



Each one still feels



The music



Bouncing off the walls



As everyone who truely loves



And respects music does



Long after



It's ended



In that moment



They all realize



It dosen't matter



If they get a one



It dosen't matter



If the battle's been won



All that matters is



The music



And the fact that they made it



Experienced it



And were passionate every moment



Together



All in their own way



But



Together



They created



The music