She is bright and happy,
Lighting up the room-
Living like she’s caught in a reverie,
Navigating the twists of life
As though it was easy.
Enrapturing everyone with her flawlessness.

But she covers her sorrows with that cheer
Hiding the struggle, the quiet pain.  
Her clandestine ways fooling everyone.

Nobody notices,
The way she cries herself to sleep.
The way she can’t look in the mirror.
The way she exists in a world of darkness-
An inescapable shadow on her life.

She glows.
She breaks.
She laughs.
She cries.

I am her.
And she is me.