Sound Shadows

It's showtime.
Time to disguise your anxiety with a smile,
Hoping the shadows don't come.
Usually they appear as brief flickers
Taking your fears with them as they fade.
But the more you need the shadows to vanish
The denser they become.
For it is when you most want to hear
That you can hear least;
The shadows prey on such moments.
They wait lurking with infinite patience
For no wave of a wand
Can drive the shadows from you.
So the best you can do is act
Without ever pretending that you're acting.
You answer questions you never hear
And laugh at jokes which the shadows claim,
Wondering if you'll ever know what you missed,
Or if anyone else will either.