What I Don't Tell People

• Erin Bofinger, Grade 12, MLC School -
• Poetry
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

I constantly rip myself apart due to perfectionism and vanity
And cascade into a cesspool of chaos, losing all sanity
My inner dialogues are never personal.
Avert your glistening eyes of mirth and abandon your guises,
I don’t care for your fake love and transparent disguises.
Not knowing who I am is my main source of rage,
We all wear masks to hide realisations as we age.
Perhaps you will never see what I am beneath this intensity.
It's hard to get over the barriers we construct, but
You will never feel the suffocation of the abyss
That constantly pulls me away from bliss.
My waning frustration lies in embers, leaving me in pain
I sit in the shadows, confused again
Whilst I watch the others in their glee...

Wishing I knew what I could do about me.