you stand in front of your bathroom mirror
with puffed-red eyes and dried-tight cheeks
as you practice your smiling and deception

your thoughts feel light but your feet are heavy
and you cannot bring yourself to unlock the door

and soon you’re sitting on your little sister’s
step-stool with the unfamiliar pill bottle in your
hands when the cacophony in your brain comes to a
caesura. The sudden serenity caresses your soul
and makes peace with your demons

you know the treaty is only temporary and soon
you’ll hear the mad ravings of the demons once more
but for now you are grateful and release yourself
from your prison cell into your weary reality

the sadness murmurs beneath your skin
and deep within your chest, but its aches are
distant like an animal caged and restrained

your days become photocopies as you
continue wearing contrived smiles and still
no one knows your proud laurels are also
your crown of thorns