it started off as
chit-chat
and banter

with a smiling woman

and that's all it was ever supposed to be

you were wearing a veil
but by a sudden
gust of wind
the fabric hooded over your eyes
went flying off

and you saw
for a split second

who you

were really
talking to

a worn-out soul
aged by the sands of time
sick of her struggles
ready, almost eager
to let go
to give up

battered and bruised
at the edges
with lifeless eyes
that whispered
desperately
i can't go on any longer

ragged hair
probably not combed
for weeks
or maybe years

the winds died down
the veil fell back into place
and once again,

she was full of life
and smiling so sweetly
you'd never guess how she ached
on the inside
there were even creases at the ends
of her vivid eyes
her hair fluffed gently by the wind
(the same wind that had
blown off your veil)
and her lips
they were red again

erm, are you all right?
your head snapped up
at her voice

she looked concerned
for you
(as if she wasn't the one
breaking)

oh... you blushed a bit
yeah, just thought of
something --

and then
you dared to ask her
the million-dollar question

how are you?

she shrugged, with
a laugh in her eyes
brushing it off
like a stray hair

i'm fine.

so this one was kind of all over the place and very trashy but hey i promise this is the last one about "pretending to be okay" stuff but i just really wanted to write this bc i've been waiting to figure out how to attack writing a poem like this for years and i'm just trash and bleh XD thanks for reading