• Underneath my wrinkled facade, I'm crumbling
    Beneath my calm face, a terrifying battle rages on in my head
    Hidden behind my easy smile, tears I won't let fall wait
    Disguised by my firecracker personality, I'm fading.

    People tell me I'm an actress but what they don't understand is that my entire life is an act.
    Every word, carefully scripted before it ever makes it way out of my cautious mouth
    Every move, blocked by an unseen force that drives me to be what people expect.
    Sometimes even my thoughts are maneuvered by those around me.

    Teach me to find the shadow of what I once was, now corrupted by my thirst for perfection
    Teach me how to distinguish fact from fiction within my own mind
    Teach me how to not hate myself for every mistake I commit.

    Teach me how to live

    before I fade
    away
    completely