All the world’s a stage, or so they say,
And I forget my lines most every night.
I smile on cue and act like I’m okay,
While something in me knows this isn’t right.
I wear a face that fits the room I’m in,
And trade my truth for everyone’s applause.
The crowd stands up and calls my costume “win,”
But leaves me lonely with the hidden cost.
The mirror keeps rehearsing with my eyes,
It asks, “Is this the self you really are?”
I answer back with carefully shaped lies,
And feel the distance like a growing scar.
The script says, “Play the hero, never weak,”
So I pretend that doubt is just a phase.
But underneath, my fragile bones still creak,
From holding up this role most of my days.
I joke and bow to hide what I can’t face,
The fear that no one wants the naked me.
I fill the silence with a borrowed grace,
And hope they never sense my slow unease.
Yet every scene I fake becomes a chain,
Each gentle lie adds weight I cannot name.
The loudest pain is not another’s pain,
It’s when I vanish underneath my game.
One night the spotlight burns a little hot,
It lights the parts I never meant to show.
The lines fall out, the perfect mask is not,
My careful story cracks in trembling glow.
No one walks out; the seats remain the same,
Some even lean in closer just to see.
Their quiet eyes are softer than my shame,
As if they’re waiting to feel safe to be.
I speak without a script, my voice unsure,
The words are simple, but they land like stone.
“I’m tired of acting like I’m always pure,
I’m scared, I fail, I hate to feel alone.”
The stage goes still; the hush becomes my friend,
A sacred pause where I can finally breathe.
For once my inner lines and outer blend,
The mask slips off and hangs like autumn leaves.
The truth does not destroy the show tonight,
It turns the wooden stage into a heart.
To live authentic is to risk the light,
And let the real self walk out from the part.
So if the world’s a stage, then let it be,
A place where broken actors still come true.
Where courage means you dare to show the me,
That shakes with fear, yet steps in honest view.
…
DCG
