Deception starts with us

It paints a picture of inadequacy

We are convinced of what we are not

Pertaining to excellence, intelligence, or beauty

The worthlessness we feel

We can’t bear to let others see

It’s just one more sign of weakness

That horrifying vulnerability

The image of ourselves

That we hope others will perceive

Unknowingly brings us down further

Because of the lies we use to deceive

And the worst part of it all

Is when we reflect on what we say

To make others believe

That reality is what the mirror relays

Knowing the falsehood we preached

May have been willingly accepted

Inside we feel empty

As if this wasn’t what we expected

You’d think we’d know better

Than to mislead and to cheat

This distorted reality

Only ends in defeat

Because the lies we tell ourselves

Were never truth in the first place

Making the lies we tell others

A subconscious display of our true face

When we learn of this deceit

And its never-ending circulation

We begin to unmask ourselves

To gain a better reputation

In our old self-malevolence

Believing the imperfections for so long

We found ourselves eternally clinging

Hoping to find that all the lies were wrong