Take the grin

Remove the shoes

I am not hiding

I've got nothing to lose

For I'm just a kid

Like any other

I've got friends, teachers

And even a mother.

So what is there then

Beneath it all

Are there cracks in my guise

For true nature to crawl?

In fact there are

and if you look close enough

You might just find

That I'm not so tough.

Oh I put up a show

I've made a new me

but beneath it all

I'm just lost at sea.

I weather the storm

Of snide quips and remarks

Only just avoiding all the

Reefs and sharks.

So I lower the sails

And batten the hatches

Retreat within, locking all the latches

For I can't afford

To let them think

That what they say

Could make me sink.