Silent Facade

The story goes, a silent babe,No whimper, cry, or tear I gave.They told me then, and I believed,That weakness was a sin conceived.That sadness was a shameful thing,A secret to which none should cling.

A little girl, I saw the light

Of happiness as dim and trite.

If bliss was ignorance, I vowed,

I'd wear a solemn, stoic shroud.

For meaning in this world so strange,

I thought the detachment would arrange.

I hated sums and silly games,

The dancing flames, the whispered names.

My mother's touch, a gentle plea,

To weave her love into my hair, for me.

I hated sunshine's golden gleam,

And rainbow hues, a childish dream.

But oh, I laughed! A bitter sound,

At misery I had found,

A burden born, a heavy weight,

Sealing off a kinder fate.

I turned to ice, a frozen core,

Yet hated coldness to the core.

I hated heat, the sticky burn,

The lipstick, frills, a girl's concern.

Then slowly, life began to shift,

A tiny crack in frozen gift.

I let the sun upon my face,

And did not flee to shaded space.

The sweat streamed down, a cleansing flow,

And tears began, a steady show.

No longer hidden, locked away,

I cried and cried, day after day.

I learned that grief, a wrenching pain,

Is better than a numb disdain.

And growing more, I came to see,

Empathy's beauty, wild and free.

More precious far than sorrow's sting,

The joy of understanding.

Happiness, no foolish guise,

But mirrored in another's eyes.

I saw it then, a simple truth,

In struggles shared, from age to youth.

I saw the worth, the honest pride,

In homework done, with naught to hide.

The colors bloomed, the music played,

A life reborn, no longer swayed

By lies I learned in early years,

Now washed away by honest tears.