The room has a busy hum to it,
like the lights that buzz right before the kickoff
at the state championship game.
I’m not sure if it is the lights
or the excitement that the humming originates.
The lights go out,
like a candle in a burst of wind.
Breaths are held,
excitement climaxes.
The four men for whom all 700 of us are here for
enter the room.
Opening chords.
‘How are you doing Cincinnati?’
Screams and yells are the answer,
It must be right because they all smile.
I’m indecisive in deciding who is putting out more energy,
the performers or the crowd.
As the words say
‘it starts eyes closed to fingers crossed’
The crowd obeys.
4 men leading 700.
No practices and no rehearsals
one chance to get it right
and we are hitting right on target.
One voice is really hundreds
But no one can tell because it is all in unison.
The kids off key don’t matter
because the feeling has become so much greater then the sound.
Feet hit the ground and hands are shot into the air.
It’s perfection.
The energy in this place could destroy it.