Challenging Poetry

behind every smile

behind every smile
is confusion—
a façade of mirth
hiding the bruises
the world constantly gives.
we abhor letting others see
how much we don’t know.

what hides under our beds?
what monsters hide in the mist,
waiting to eviscerate our
certainty, leave us bleeding,
alone?

we wonder—we are filled with awe.
at the awe-inspiring
at the awful—
they are the same.

line count: 16
form: free verse