To my peers
I am bright,
Confident and full of cheers.
So when you ask if I’m all right,
I nod with a smile,
Hiding my destruction,
While all my fears compile.

I hide my feelings with a lie,
For my mask is plastered to my face.
Forever smiling while I cry,
Feeling pain without a trace.

I am surrounded by those who care,
But nobody really knows me.
For all I show is what I share,
Disguising what no one can see.

As I slowly drown,
My emotions build uncontrollably,
And my chest feels contorted and weighed down,
But there is no rescuing me,
Because my mask has put on a show
Of the happiest a girl can be,
But little do they know,
The real, shattering me.

But every once in awhile
I take off my mask.
I remove my fake smile,
Giving up my hard task.
But I make sure no one is around,
When I pour out my stress, anxiety, and fears,
As I crumble to the ground,
My mask no longer holding back my tears.

But as soon as someone walks through my door,
My mask goes back on my face,
Concealing my personal war,
Leaving my depression for my own space.

Today I still wear my mask,
And continue to grin.
So even if you ask,
My false personality will win,
Cloaking the true me,
That is gradually caving within.