I stand behind a curtain blood red

I step from behind to reveal a version of myself

Everyday I perform  for the audience I meet

I will not allow you to see the true me

This way is much easier, you see.

I smile and laugh, but this is not truth

I am an actor, can’t you tell?

No? That is because I excel at what I do

You see me, but do you really?

You see a perception of me from the outside

My smiling face, my twinkling eyes

But farther down, deep inside

That is not me

I cry and weep and keep my feelings shy

Can you not see?

The me you see is not really me.