tricks

my poems are all wrong

i’m often sad for no reason

and no matter how much i looked at the Sun

i didn’t absorb its brightness

instead i got blinded by people’s positivity

every day i got up and prepared for a fight

when i wanted to cry i just practiced smiling instead

my mum said, a “resting sad face” isn’t a delight

now i’m used to moving two rows of teeth and making my eyes sparkle as i speak

if i could fool them, doesn’t that mean i succeed

in tricking myself into thinking i’m happy?

t.l.

please, tell me more tricks

i have none up my sleeves