Masks

She’s standing here

All lost and afraid

Her world is crumbling

But she still keeps up her cheery façade

They say “She seems so happy!”

But what they don’t understand

Is that the one they are seeing

Is not even a man

She is a shell

She is a mask

She is a vessel with nothing inside

No one suspects

She’s hiding too well

Her mask now firmly in place

She’s just a scared little girl

Who can’t seem to comprehend

Her father is gone

§§§

Somebody doubts

The reality of the mask

But no one predicts

This little, strong girl

To actually be hurting

Because

“She’s too strong”

And

“She’ll be just fine”

She won’t be just fine

She just lost a part of herself

And all she has to show

Is a mask hiding a thousand words

Fighting to get out.