The Autism Mask

She forces herself to go out to lunch,
There is uncertainty of who will be there,
Plays a distinctive role,
Does she stay or does she go?

She’s going..............  

The uncomfortable noise,
of background music playing,
feels like needles penetrating her brain.
Makes her want to flee from the scene.

But she stays.............

Like an actress playing the part with
polite conversation,
oh how she masks,
but inside her brain all is not well,
Even though she can put you under her spell.
This intriguing women cannot see it herself,
frightened all the time by an unknown force,
that makes her think she has failed.

It lingers on and self doubt appears,
no social graces causes her many tears.
People don’t understand her delivery of words,
and time and time again she feels she cannot be heard.

Back home the mask is tossed to one side,
along with politeness and her fake smile.

Now she is safe..................