I can pretend,
Like I'm ok,
I can hold back my tears,
Just to get through the day.

I can put on a facade,
Like I'm alright,
Just to lose another battle,
As I succumb to the night.

I can imagine,
I'm doing just fine,
Nothing ever changed,
Like a key to a lock,
You were always mine,
You would always stay.

I'm not gonna pretend,
I'm not ok,
I'll shed the facade,
I'm not alright,
It's not my imagination,
I'm not just fine.

I want to cry all night,
I want to cry all day,
Lost in the safety of memories,
Locked into this pain.

There is no way to hide the shame,
Of a fatherless Dame.

You lie in your hospital bed,
Dying, withering, wasting away.

A decade has passed, you call for me,
But still,
NOTHING,
Is what I say.

I'm pretending to be ok,
Locked away,
Safely,
Isolated insanity.
C. Tyler