Children are carefully put-together structures built of popsicle sticks
taken from the mouths of people they admire
and one single broken word
can send it all crashing down

when your heart shattered
it fell into my open palm

discarded

like the letter you wrote
over and over again
written past tense

with open notebooks and dried out pens
blinking cursor waiting

shards you left behind
embedded in my brain

when roses die
why do thorns remain?

why,

why does life come in waves?

it’s either the white sea foam,

salty, bubbles, calm

or

the tsunami,

flooding, crashing, drowning.

~

the clouds grow heavy
and now the rain falls softly
the animals dance

you take flight
high, in the sky,
above the clouds
toward the sun

the wings I wear
are broken, damaged,
weighed with despair

i search for the sun
but it’s only in vain
human adventures
with expiration dates

you took my hand
i felt finally free
when you let go,
i fell to the sea

happiness, this is the mask we wear, it is this mask that we will forever show to others. It is not because we want to lie, it is because deep down we do not derive happiness from ourselves, but in the smiles of others. The happiness we bring others is the ultimate distraction, a temporary escape out of the cold and painful prison we so desperately wish to be free from.

you may say it is pointless, or even stupid. until that one smile from the only one you care for is the last thing keeping you on this earth, you will never understand. so 'til the day we leave this world, we will keep wearing our masks. we will continue to put forth this facade, for it is the closest thing to achieving true happiness