Different

Different


She shook her head,
it hurt, it burned, it tore at her
that pain, that knowledge,
knowing she wasn't right, she wasn't the same.
Each emotion acted,
each façade perfected;
by watching, by studying.
Learning how to be like them,
like everyone else.
But always on the outside.
Everything a mask, everything practiced
it didn't feel right,
she didn't feel sane.
Each day she was slipping, slipping away,
away from the light
away from the sanity.
She felt her mask chip, saw her façade shatter,
but she couldn't stop it
everything moved, and everything fell.
And everyone watched,
and didn't know to help.
Her head hurt with all the knowledge;
the changes, the acts.
Her life was tumbling
shrinking and crumbling,
falling to pieces.
Like broken glass,
too sharp to pick up,
too shattered to fix.
And it all started with that first time,
the first time she tried to be like them.