A Factor Of X Poem by Tom Higgins

This year is gonna be your year
You're heading to the top.
You are gonna make it there
And you ain't gonna stop

Until you win the accolades
And get that record deal,
Because this is why you were made,
At least that is what you feel.

Yes you were born to be a star
Your name was meant to be known.
You ain't meant to be where you are
In your tiny bedsit all alone.

No that is not your destiny young man,
That is not what you were created for,
You know that you easily, can
Be a winner in life's endless war.

For years now you have watched others,
Many of them were just like you
They too were told by their mothers
That there's nothing they can't do.

Even though it's a singing voice
That's needed to win the show.
Your sense of destiny has made the choice
And you're going to have a go.

So you've posted off your entry form
And you've been summoned for audition.
When you arrive you join the swarm
Who are on the self same mission.

Thousands of the hopeful, the fat, the thin,
The talented, and the merely insane
All queing up to prove they can win
This year's talent spotting game.

And now they have called your name
It's now your turn to show
The judges, in this chase for fame
What the world will soon come to know.

The voice which emanates from deep inside
A sound which was gifted by the gods,
Will soon be heard and recognised worldwide
As your songs play on pads and pods.

So now you stand in front of them, so cool,
Your microphone steady in your hand,
And you open your mouth to reveal the fool
But you can't ever understand.

You can't grasp the fact that you can't sing
Because your mammy says you can,
And now you're here in the circus ring
To show them you're the man.

The judges then vote to decide if you stay or go
They criticise your choice of song,
They say it was much too slushy and slow,
But nobody blames your voice, and they're supposed to know.

So on you go you pass this test
You're through into the next round.
Although your voice is not the best
You believe that you've been found.

You believe with all your heart
That you are going to win
You've believed that from the start
Because you have a little voice within.

Tom Higgins 02/01/2014