Pretend

Smile.

Show them all how well you’re doing.

Bury anything but happiness down.

Way down.

Pretend it doesn’t exist,

Like nothing is ever wrong,

Like you don’t wake up wishing you hadn’t.

Pretend that nothing can hurt you,

That years and years of damage have been undone.

Pretend you’ve never cried

And never wished you weren’t born

And that you never, EVER, feel like breaking down;

Picking up the pieces just enough to get to somewhere dark and small,

So you can start falling apart all over again.

Pretend you’ve never broken your tender skin

In a vain attempt to feel pain outside of your heart.

Pretend you’ve never stared at a bottle of pills a little too long and hard.

 Pretend that life isn’t too long and hard.

Mostly though,

And listen up because this is most important of all,

Pretend that your smile is real.