The man behind the curtain controls the show;

The audience sees that which he chooses.

But yet in return for his work he receives no gateau

And the spectator, not knowing, ultimately loses.

 

My audience perceives my curtain as an uncomplicated white:

Radiant yet void of all bad emotion.

The smile pasted on my face sure does make a room bright

But my feelings have the breadth of an ocean.

 

I hear "I apologize" and "I'm sorry" almost every single day

Because they know I'm never outwardly mad.

But to think that my skies can never be gray - 

Now the lack of compassion is sad.

 

And the people just think: how can he be so content

For life throws him many a challenge.

What they don't know is it's not the sadness I prevent

But the small jubilations I scavenge

 

The reason for this I can only speculate - 

It seems that the roots are dug deep.

Others' happiness I cannot simply desolate;

To do so would be to unjustly reap.

 

"Do unto others what you wish upon yourself."

As I have been told from a very young age.

And also "actions speak louder than words," a sign on a shelf;

As such has advised me a sage.

 

So I show the world what they want to see:

a young man entirely content with his youth.

But not completely feigned is this glee

Because a smile eventually becomes the truth.

 

But inside me there's a bottle whose contents at which I cower

Because one cannot simply hold it all in.

Every second I pray my optimism will last one more hour

For I've learned that it's hard to give everything a positive spin.