Let slip ever gracious smile
Wearing guarded masked face
Traded out for something more
Fake laugh covers a spiteful distaste
What hangs under that brightly painted coat?
What meaning lies deep lined visage rote?
Opened eyes with cleared throat
Acutely minded, yet somehow remote
Someone once said
That someone once spoke
Now they don’t speak at all
Let those loose on thin lines fall
We can only change ourselves
Phased out- ostracized
Effectively unduly replaced
Not there,
AWOL in ways
Then they cut cantankerous chains… (ostensibly)
Surprisingly,
We wonder why—
We care
We must say:
Who makes my day?
And am I okay?
We are all different from last week
Are you here, today?
