Lie and Smile

I hear the words inside me echoing in the darkness. “Keep your head up, straighten your back, don’t look at the ground, keep a smile on….” On and on it goes, over and over and I can’t handle it anymore. My chin drops to my chest and I watch my feet shuffle along with slow unsure steps. This is what I feel and there is no reason hiding it. No one looks anyway. People pass by too caught up in their own world to notice the flames dying in my eyes. How many people out there are just like me? Who try to keep it together just because they’re told to, because it is what they should do. I want to stand tall, but right now I need to curl up and cry. I want to smile but right now it would be a lie.