Illusions

We look at someone

We think they have it all

Inside, enslaved, drowning

Harder and harder they fall

Pain and suffering

Too scared to speak up

Alarmed by the sadness

Creeping, creeping up

Oppression has so many names

Some lie in poverty

Others in fame

Control can wear a smile

As plastered as a clown

A circus for show

Laughing as performers drown

Who are we?

We wonder at night

Only alone as we sleep

When free to cry and scream inside

As demons lose their power

We use our voice

Because the damage has been done

It may as well be worth a price

A price no longer in vain

No longer hidden in plain sight

A price of freedom

One in which we more than just barely

Survive the night