We Always Hide Our Tears Poem by Kelsey Gallant

We always hide our tears
Put on a face of cool and calm and collected like we're pretty Christmas lights
When inside we're really a nuclear bomb
Or a grenade just waiting for the right amount of pressure
And as soon as the right amount hits
We explode
Sending pieces of shrapnel all over, cutting into everyone until nobody is the same ever again
We try to repair
Mend the broken pieces
But we can't
It's like fitting together the shards of a broken mirror
The reflection is distorted
Life is distorted
Memories are power
And rash actions give way to fear
In reality, we're all living in fear
Fear of ourselves and of others
Fear of saying or doing the wrong thing
Fear that history is going to repeat itself
Fear of letting others see our emotions
But where do we ever get by keeping our emotions all locked up inside ourselves?
They run out of air to breathe until we are forced to either suffocate in our mistakes or find another solution
A rapidly-expanding POP sends pieces of balloon all over the place
And you can't put it back together again