Have you ever had the nightmare where you’re standing at the front of an audience, about to say something important, but when you open your mouth there’s nothing? Well imagine waking up in that nightmare and realizing that you couldn’t get out. That’s exactly what happened to KC Steedle, the night that a mysterious blackout nearly killed his dream of ever having a career in music. KC tells poet Ciona Rouse about the disquieting experience of confronting a medical anomaly. And a surprising change in plan that ultimately saved his career, and his life. Then Ciona takes his unsettling tale, and turns it into poetry.

Versify is a production of Nashville Public Radio and The Porch, Nashville’s nonprofit literary center. Editing and production came from WPLN’s Mack Linebaugh, with additional editing by Anita Bugg. The episode was hosted, scripted, and produced by Joshua Moore. Today’s story and poem were recorded by Luke Wiget at the March 2017 Jefferson St. Art Crawl.

**The music is by Kevin Chambers. Versify is distributed by PRX.