This face you see isn't real
This smile is fake
This laugh isn't genuine
Might as well be plastic
Since its stuck

I put this mask on to hide
Hide from the people and their words
Maybe if I don't show it
They will stop leaving

My eyes have run out of tears
My mouth dry of words
Can't seem to conquer my fears
I mask it with a fake face

I'm a zombie with a party mask
I drag but seem alright
My face tells them I'm fine
But I'm dead
I can't live while walking in the land of the dead

"Push it down"
They tell me
"Don't let it show"
I tell myself

Sometimes it feels like God won't help
These lies give me different masks
Anger puts them on
Fear keeps them on

Saying what I feel isn't an option
So I'll keep these masks
Say hello to my fake face

My king is a rebel king
Different but much better
Wasn't defined by a ring
But by his miracles

He rebelled against the evil law
Against hatred clothed as compromise
People didn't like what they saw
But he didn't waver

People didn't serve him
He served the people
Saved them with true love
As they slayed him

A rebel king who shows mercy
As people do him wrong
He doesn't go with the trend
He's the stuff you sing about in a song

He sacrificed himself on a cross
The ultimate boss
Call him a backwards leader
A rebel king

Hi, hello, how you doin?
You don't know me, but I'm around
I'm one of the uninvited
Don't be too excited

I'm the one you forgot
The one who is there but isn't
I don't say a lot
I'm present but treated like I'm distant

I'll make you laugh just so you'll like me
But I'll get old and you'll leave
Standing in a crowd like a boring tree
Roots withered, leaves falling

I'm the one who was left at the store by his parents
The kid whose dumped for better friends
Never invited unless being used for a need
There's no one left here to even make amends

Call me a book
Because I've been Left Behind
Rewritten one too many times

Not even the after thought of the after party
Heck, not even at the party
I didn't know there was one

Hope your book club was fun
Your birthday cheerful
Your hang outs cool
Your coffee talks deep

I assume its a blast
I know enough to know you do these things
But I wouldn't know what its like
I'm the uninvited

Alone.
The word that best describes my life
By myself since a young age
Friends seem to be a myth

This pen is my only companion
With this I feel like a champion
I want to share these feelings
But people are fleeing

I don't drink, smoke, or sleep around
So the world hates me
I believe in God but I'm not religious
So christians want to spite me

I don't fit in the crowd
So I  spend time with myself
I try to be nice
But I don't like their lies

"Go away" they say
I just wanted to say hey
They're having a good time
I just wanna laugh too

I'd like to laugh again
With someone who cares
I'm not like other people
So I'm left alone

Always left alone
Someone is always better
My days are always rainy
I can't stand this weather

So enjoy your friends
Don't take them for granted
Or you'll end up like me
Alone.

Art is beautiful
Fills me with life
Like a relaxing vacay
It takes away my strife
Or adds to it

No one talks about the dark side
Art isn't always pretty
Its a wild beast that has to be tamed
Many have failed
Many are ashamed

Its the poet vs his art
The artist against the craft
A boa constrictor squeezing the life out of you
Only the passionate survive

Its a bad Taylor Swift song
Puts you in a trance
And makes you listen to it even if you don't like it
Yikes.

You'll jump! Hunt! Scream! War!
You'll take it or it'll take you
The artist must craft the craft

You'll be afraid
Don't show it
Take art by the tail
Make it yours

Once this happens
You'll soon realize the beast wasn't there
It was your own fear that held you back
Just a shadow exposed to the light

You are your art
Discover yourself and your art will bloom
Into the craft its meant to be

- Logan D.