Applause

She wears a mask to appear content

Ever the actress performances astound

She can’t show her true self

She is terrified of what they Will say

Her audience made of tigers and sharks

Their teeth sharp and claws like a razor

On the tightrope of shame and sanity

And so she dances before them

This existence a prison but the unknown is worse

Play the devil you know or risk a worse fate

One more round of thunderous applause and now she takes a bow

The stage imaginary and the audience exists only in her mind

The dark place

No one talks about the dark place

The one inside your mind

Thoughts so wrong and evil

Hatred that makes you blind

Seething and rotting with no release

Painful and cruel desires

The dark place is where demons dwell

They call to me whispers and commands

The voices are always there and I have to resist

Everyday this war of inner self a living hell

I can’t look in that dark place

Pretend I am normal

Pretend I am safe

The evil inside me is growing

I know I appear calm

But I am terrified of what I struggle to hide

The dark place inside of my mind