What Lies Underneath

I hear you laugh at almost everything
I've rarely ever seen you mad
You are such a joy to be around
Because you are never sad

I watch your face and look into your eyes
And I see a sadness there
Such a look of vast experience
From perhaps a life that's not been fair

Sometimes, I see you talk to yourself
Very quiet, very low
And I wonder what is on your mind
What you are trying not to show

I realize that your constant laugh
The smile there on your face
Is not reflected in those eyes of yours
And it seems so out of place

What lies underneath that mask of happiness
That I have always seen you wear
And just how deep do the secrets and pain
Therein lie
That you alone do bear

Author's Note

Written 02/07/10, one of my first pieces about a friend of mine who laughs at everything, even when it is not funny.......I realized the day I wrote this that perhaps I saw a bit of myself in her.

Artist: Phatpuppy - Deviantart.com

Reviews

[kdpgrahi]

It is so simple a poem Neva, I feel it something different from your usual style. You have told the very true things here. Yes I agree there is some thing very deep under the mask of happiness. It seems reverse in not true, no mask of sadness? i appreciate your feelings here.

[Sherwette]

wow I love it. I think it takes a lot of effort to laugh when deep down you are hurting.

[TheElfPrincess]

First there is that wonderful picture and than that breathtaking poem. Well done! I truly loved it!

[cartera]

The eyes are the window to the soul - particularly a sad one. One may puzzle about what one sees in another's eyes, but often what is known as 'good manners' or 'etiquette' gives us an excuse not to enquire deeply, and is an excuse that we accept too readily.
ATB
Alex.

[Aidz]

As others have stated perhaps it is the mask hey choose to show to protect, sheld from the relaities endured

Quality write Neva

[SilentVerses]

Love it, truth and honesty flows through the hurt through the helplessness, trying to uncover and discover what you could not know. Masks that dance upon their maker to hide below a timid hurt, born from despair's touch, blooming and blossoming in the eyes of society it is covered and nurtured. We laugh when we daren't cry, until it is all that comes and tears have been staunched. Simple elegance and emotive imagery places us with you and we see the glassy expression, of a sorrowful heart. Beautiful.

[Maya Storm]

This poem reads like a story of a 'life in time of a person'
The poem started with the surface that you see/saw, then the layers went in deeper and deeper as you went deeper into this person.

It takes a lot to bury demons and then smile about it daily. That must be one strong person. Then again it takes a different kind of strength to set it free.

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

The dissonance between the smile and the eyes was phenomenal.
I love the way you made individual parts of the body....and the soul
all become strangers to one another.

[FamaSemperVivat]

Wow!! So true many of us wear a mask to hide our pain to other around us, but our eyes can give us away, and so many are afraid to ask us what's wrong, whether from fear of hearing our own pain or emotions brought forth or not knowing how to help those in pain is a dilemma we struggle with daily. So we hide behind our masks so those we care about don't have to deal with our pain as well.

[A Risen Heroine.]

Wow... I can relate all too well.... I love to use the words as a mask or in my case it's a front.
Very well written!!!
Thank you so much for sharing and keep up the good work!!!

~A Fallen Heroine~