Mask Poem by Alex Stoneroad

Our smile is just a mask to hide how we feel, to hide our pain.
We can be going through hell, but as soon as someone comes,
the mask goes on.
But the mask is suffocating,
it is making it difficult to breathe right, express ourselves,
even to ourselves.
We put the mask on for so long, it's impossible to go on without it,
even when we just want to cry and break down.
We can't express ourselves,
we just bottle up our feelings, and the smile is plastered on our faces. The mask doesn't ever come off,
it can't because what will people think when you start crying and breaking down when you were always smiling?
One day the mask will come off, and they'll find out you were just a depressed little kid all along.