The Sting of My Own Skin

Locked away, the feelings stay

Inside my heart that’s torn

Apart,

Wishing they

Could see the day

As I do.

Don’t you ever

Yearn to sever

The counterfeit person

Inside you?

It eats me,

And beats me,

At my own game,

Defeats me.

The false face,

The fake embrace,

The veneer

Behind my

Tears.

People don’t know what to do.

They can never see

The person they are talking to,

Because it’s not really me.

I’d really like to show them,

So they won’t be deceived.

But showing them my scars

Is telling them to leave.

Dark red pen

All over my skin

Even when I’m better.

I guess sometimes

The mask I wear

Can be as simple as

A sweater.

When people fall in love

In movies,

It’s something I love to see.

No one would ever know that,

Because they’re not really seeing

Me.

What really makes me happy,

Is just some coffee and a book.

But after they hear my story,

I don’t get a second look.

My story isn’t long,

Just a pill or two.

But I have yet to find a person

Who can seem to get a clue.

I’m not dark or scary,

I promise that I care.

I’ve just had some times

When

I

Needed someone there.

I’d love

To be

Who I am

For all the world

To see.

But for fear

Of being rejected,

In my mask

Is

Where I’ll be.