Stand-Up Comedy

He takes his place at the front of the room,
Takes the mike,
Takes a deep breath,
And wishes he’d taken something
For his queasy stomach.

His motionless audience
Stares at him like
Those huge stone faces on Easter Island –
Another tough crowd –
But he thinks he can reach them.

He’ll never know for sure.
The stone faces didn’t want to be here anyway;
Their bosses forced them to come
And they give him only
The standard polite congratulations afterward.

He reflects later that
The comedian was almost right.
He should have said
"Death is easy;
Making a business presentation is hard."