Big framed glasses
A smile from ear to ear
My old worn converses
And poetry books in my hand

I always said I would be my own person
Independent and true
That if people didn’t like me
So be it
I would be who I wanted to be
And never forget to be me

But now
I say the things people want to hear
I do the things people want to see
I pull a façade over my face
And listen to what society says
“Stop wearing those glasses”
“Get some new shoes”
“Wear some different colours
Maybe some greens or blues”

Day after day
Growing tired
And lonesome
I am here for them
I hear of their problems
And I bury my own
Because that’s what I’m told to do
But they fall so deep into my soul
I forget they’re there
And as they eat me from the inside out
Soon all I am is my façade
Hollow and strange

Contacts
A smile that doesn’t reach my eyes
A new pair of the latest shoes
And a cigarette in my hand

I have forgotten who I was in the beginning of the poem