I wore a smile from the hospital
To my father's funeral.
I wore a smile from the boys' ******
To the mens' ******.
I would cut at my emotional tumour,
With nothing but my sense of humour,
As though laughing will make the pain go away,
And somehow I could see a brighter day,
A brighter hour, brighter minute and brighter second,
somehow always waiting, wishing and guessing,
when that bright light will arrive.

Reality is very different,
We could only see as far as our eyes let us,
We would never be able to see pass the skin,
To where true pain begins.
We would never see the true pain that comes from the heart,
We would never witness the heart tearing itself apart.

We would touch up on our make up,
To coat our emotions in a mask,
While others hid it in a flask,
So our true pain will never be seen,
whether it'll be in face or on a screen.

They treated us as though the pains of yesterday,
Could somehow be wished away,
As though the marks on our arm,
Would relieve us of all our inner harm.
We hanged onto hope,
Even if it was a thin piece of rope,
WE HANGED ON.

So how much is really in a smile,
And a constant telling of jokes,
As though clowns don't feel choked,
By the sadness that torments everyone.

What percentage of what we feel,
Isn't locked away with a seal?
Or being replaced by real facades,
When wearing a mask is our best guard?