Ironically the smiles we wear to hide the pain from others, shield us away from the intimacy of others. How can we learn to trust if we the only learn intimacy of ourselves? It is hard to reach out when our hands are burned from previous flames. My answer is to wear 1/2 a mask/smile - that way you learn to trust, whilst only risking 1/2 of what's left.

All the best.

Hi dagmar nice to see you gracing the recent poem pages again your presence has been missed.
The title does what it says on the tin so to speak we shouldn't judge but very often we do and sometimes it's subconsciously but still unfortunate that we do.
1) This made my heart skip a beat in that it feared me because I understood the past, your past specifically, has made you be unable to tell ‘love’ stories for they're too raw so you hide from them, from your past but we shouldn't because that past shapes what we've become today and I believe you're a strong lady.. It's ashame you turn away from human touch but with a terrible past it's understandable and even now sometimes I cower.
2) This is a very relatable and powerful short gut wrenching stanza. We can communicate with ourselves but as stated sometimes it isn't very pretty.
3) Depression does suck, it eats at you and everything you love and takes it all away relationships of all kinds, hobbies you name it depression eats it all up and spits it all out but only if we let it I guess and sometimes there seems like there's no other way doesn't there? Somedays we can just about get out of bed nevermind go to work with that smile painted on and yes every smile, every bit of laughter, every set of tears that fall all tell a story and neither of us should judge because none of us know what the next person is going through and even if we had symmetrical lives then we'd deal with what was handed with us differently wouldn't we? The only thing I'd change about this piece would be “big fat smile” how about “Cheshire cat smile” just a suggestion.
A powerful and thought provoking piece
Take care.
Em xx

That is true...we all hide under a mask
and a false smile...in such few lines the
weight if sadness lingers...take care