I had crippling stage fright as a child.

It didn’t matter whether it was a class presentation or singing in church choir.

My mind would go blank, my heart would race and then I’d start to cry.

When I was 15, I walked onto my high school talent show’s stage and I performed a spoken word poem about healing from depression and finding myself again after losing my mind.

My mind was sharp.

My heart did race. But it eventually slowed.

And I didn’t cry.

I stared my classmates eye to eye and told them I believed that hope was on the other side of heartbreak.

One of my classmates came up to me after that talent show and told me that my words made her feel something.

I’ve been performing poetry ever since.

I perform every poem now with the goal to make each listener feel hope. Not wishful thinking. Not naive optimism. Hope.

I believe hope can save a life.

It has saved mine countless times.

- tofunmi