Fractured Heart
I learned how to smile
when I wanted to cry,
how to look at the world
while I faded inside.
I painted my face
with a beautiful lie,
so nobody noticed
the storm in my eyes.
I told everyone
that I was okay,
while pieces of me
were breaking away.
I became what you needed,
I became what you'd see,
but somewhere along the way
I lost parts of me.
I tried to be perfect,
I tried to be kind,
I carried your burdens
and buried mine.
I held up the walls
while my own started falling,
I answered your voice
while my heart kept calling.
I was loud when you wanted
a reason to blame,
I was quiet when I needed
someone to say my name.
I wore my own mask
until it felt like my skin,
and nobody noticed
the war I was in.
I smiled on the outside,
I broke underneath,
I hid all my scars
behind every breath.
They saw my laughter,
they heard me pretend,
but nobody noticed
the person I’d been.
I was still standing,
but barely alive,
a ghost wearing someone else’s smile.
So if you ask me
why I hide,
it’s because I got tired
of breaking inside.
