She woke up every day and put on her mask,
Because that was what people expected,
What they wanted to see,
her with her disguise
Because no one wanted the truth, they wanted her lies
But she too wanted to hear her lies,
To wear her mask
Because sometimes she could fool even herself
She had played this part for so long that she had lost herself in it
Numbness faded and gave way to joy and blissful ignorance
Even if only for a moment she could feel something other than pain
But the truth always found her
It knocked her off her feet and stole her pride,
Drug her to her bed and suffocated her in the sheets
She would cry and scream, but no one came
She was alone,
With her fears and her lies
Sometimes she would reach desperately for her mask that hung on the door
But it was too far,
she gave in
like she always did,
To the truth,
To her reality
Because she knew that the next morning the lie would once again engulf her
Surround her with its poison,
Intoxicate her with its sweet scent,
Create the delusion she craved.
Because that mask and the lies were what she lived for
What pulled her from her nightmares
And kept her from ending it all
But she always knew in the dark corners of her mind
That it was all just an act