Painting A Smile

• Yosra Mohamed, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2017

I paint a smile on my face despite my aching heart,
I love, I pretend despite how I am torn apart,
I laugh, I joke despite my bleeding soul,
Only to realize that the world is as black as coal.
I stare at my baby and know that I have no mean,
Yet sitting there with my friends I am treated like a queen.

My story is a shame, and so it’s better to hide,
I’ll let my troubles cloud my throbbing mind.
And when I scream, I’ll make sure it would be in silence,
So that when I’m gone no one would ever notice my absence.
And when I cry, I’ll make sure my pillow catches my tears,
So that when I’m out I wouldn’t receive any sneers.

As a huge smile stretches on my lips,
I remember who I am, how I had overcome the whips.
I remember how much I mean.
And now sitting with friends, I realize how much I deserve to be a queen.