I never knew you wore a mask,
Not one stitched of velvet and lace,
But something deeper, carved in silence,
A role you played without a stage.

They called you charming, bold, and bright,
A leading star in life's cruel play,
But now I sift through tattered pages—
Scripts you wrote, then cast away.

Each line rehearsed, each smile strained,
A careful act, a practiced art.
But somewhere in the endless stage,
You lost the echoes of your heart.

Did you ever dream of slipping out,
Of shedding costumes, painted grins?
Or did the role become so seamless
You forgot where it begins?

Your laughter filled the hollow halls,
Your voice rang sweet, devoid of doubt.
Yet I can see it now—between the lines,
A silent plea you dared not shout.

And when the curtain slowly fell,
Did you expect a standing cheer?
Or did you hope, in some cruel mercy,
That no one saw you disappear?

I found the notes you never spoke,
The truths you buried in your chest.
The world’s applause still lingers hollow,
Yet you have finally found your rest.

So take your bow, oh phantom friend,
Beneath the lights that burn so bright.
I only wish I'd seen you sooner,
Before you faded into night.

“Thanks for asking, but 𝑰
am fine, just a little tired.
𝑪𝒂𝒏’𝒕 complain, you know?
Everybody gets a bit
stressed sometimes, what with
all that we’ve got to 𝒅𝒐.
It’s not like 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 is any different
than any other day, any other person.
𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 somewhere has it far
worse than I do, so don’t feel sorry
for me. No, 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 your compassion
for a person who really needs it, not
𝒎𝒆.”

i fake a smile at dinner;
try to recreate it in the mirror
when alone -
checking to see if they
could’ve seen through it.

Can I tell you a secret?

Sometimes my jaw hurts from
Smiling
So much.

The room is filled with voices, the din
Of a kitchen in the back of an echo chamber
And none of them know the way I ache
Because all I do is
Smile.

They don’t know—
They don’t know that I go home
Exhausted
From this constant, grand performance.

They do not know I am a liar.

I touch the fingers of the girl in the
Glass as I wash off the makeup and
Study the acne scars underneath.

The night wraps itself around me, a velvet shroud,
Whispering promises of warmth in its false crowd.
I stumble into her arms, but her name escapes me,
A faceless phantom, filling empty shapes.
The lights blur, the music dulls the ache,
Her touch a fleeting balm for what I fake.
Laughter spills like wine, hollow and thin,
But it can't drown the silence screaming within.
Her eyes search mine, but find nothing inside,
Afraid she'll see our feelings collide.
A soul adrift, lost in an endless sea,
Clinging to strangers for company.
I tell myself it's enough, this fleeting play,
A masquerade to keep the darkness at bay.
Yet when dawn arrives, her warmth is gone,
And I’m left with my shadow to lean upon.
The bed feels colder, though I am not alone,
Her presence fades like a forgotten tone.
What am I but a man with borrowed fire,
A marionette of fleeting desire?
I long for something deeper, real and true,
But my hands are too stained to reach out for you.
And so I drift, lost in the night’s disguise,
Hiding my emptiness beneath blank eyes.