The Understudy

I was the understudy so
Assigned to study under
And chomping at the bit I wait
In hopes to steal her thunder

For if something should come up, you know
Just by happenstance
I’m sure that I could be a star
If just given the chance

The stairs she descends every night
They’re awfully steep and narrow
So a wet floor, a little shove
As I wait in the shadows

And so while she recuperates
I earn my due respect
But nare did I anticipate
That she would break her neck

But all was good, my career rose
To heights quite monumental
And so sad that our star was lost
Her death ruled accidental

Now I’m an actress of some note
Oh the sweet irony
To have my agents, and someone
Who understudies me

Yet there’s something quite haunting that
I see within her stare
A certain kind of hunger sure
I know it from somewhere

A vague something or other that
I just can’t seem to place
But makes me choose the elevators
Over the staircase

Until that day I hear the news
That someone gave a tip
About that fateful day there was
That accidental slip

And so at the rehearsal I
Am waiting in the wing
Policeman asks would I come down
For some questioning

And before I know it they
Have locked me in a cell
As for my understudy, yes,
I hear she’s doing well.