Her smile, so pearly and white, is nothing but a perfected facade.

You see her everyday and you would never question it,

You simply smile back and go about your day.

Her outward appearance tells everyone that everything is OK,

When in reality, she's falling apart inside.

 

Even at home her pearly whites are still on display.

Her parents too naïve to even begin to comprehend what might be wrong.

She simply shuffles about like the hollow shell that she is.

 

No one ever notices that she looks less like she’s smiling and more like a cornered animal.

 

She can’t tell you how she feels, oh no, no, no.

It would be “Too complicated” or “Too much to comprehend”,

So instead she bottles it all up, being taught that she shouldn’t bother anyone with her “pathetic problems”.

She is, after all, “just going through a faze”,

A faze where she feels like all the life, the light, joy, happiness, has been completely sucked out of her.

 

Being asked “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” are daily occurrences that she simply replies with,

“Yea, I’m just tired”, And she is… but she’s far more than physically tired.

She’s emotionally drained and spirally damaged.

She’s crying out in pain, wanting help, but never receiving it.

Her silent pleas for help only echo down the halls and attract, not her saviors, but her attacker.

 

But no matter how painful or how gruesome the attacks become,

Her plastic smile never wavers,

Her glimmering eyes never suggest,

Her strong demeanor never betrays.

 

You see her in the hall and you would never think “She seems so sad, so beaten. I wonder if she’s OK?”

No, instead you watch her pass and smile back at her thinking how happy she must be.

She’s too afraid to speak about how she truly feels,

So instead she’s crafted the perfect façade.

A wall, barrier used to separate everyone from her harsh truth.

She has so skillfully crafted a mask in which she hides behind.

It’s her only answer to the life she lives.

To hide from those who might judge her,

To pretend that everything is fine,

To live a life full of lies

Behind her beautifully perfected facade