“Keep that smile on your face.”

I tell myself this day to day

“How come you are so nice?”

It feels better than being mean, I say

Yet I don’t say, I think

For I’m that happy person, yet I’m on the brink

Of disaster.

Worries purge my happiness from within

Am I at a good weight? Too fat? Too thin?

Will I be able to afford my tuition?

Is my résumé in good condition?

What if my scores don’t make the cut?

Why does everyone think I’m a slut?

All of the woes of a teenager, it’s insane

These thoughts wreak havoc upon my brain.

Yet I don’t let it show

Don’t you know? That would be

A disaster

If I showed how I feel on the outside,

I would be so negative, it’s why I hide

It under a layer of joyous energy, while

Adorned with a crooked-yet-honest smile.

And while some say it’s bad to hide behind a mask,

By pretending to be happy, I sometimes actually feel so

Why feel sad, even on the outside, I ask?

Why, when you can feel the glow

Of an actual grin?

That’s not a sin.

Maybe pretending to be happy,

Can be my therapy

A detox for my sadness, not social suicide

I mean, if I showed my sorrow on the outside

Now that would be

A disaster