The Mask of Joy

I laughed louder than the silence,

my teeth a curtain,

my voice a shield.

Joy became my camouflage,

painted bright across the cracks.

Every smile rehearsed,

every joke a diversion,

every dance a plea not to be seen.

But laughter echoes too long.

It hollows when the room empties.

It betrays the grief beneath,

the ache that no song can drown.

And when the mask slips,

the sorrow spills—

not shameful,

not weak,

but honest.

A truth that deserves its own voice.