They Seem to be Happy

Barking Dogs,
Laughter,
People smiling and talking.
They are happy, or so they
Seem to be.

Under her jacket sleeves
Lie scars from times
When the razor blade took
over her thoughts, controlling
the feelings she left unsaid,
Or unheard.

He hides a secret past beneath
the Cheshire-like Grin...
A rape, a drink, a needle or two
from the drugs he needs
to keep this smile,

Within the heart of the loving
father lies a beast,
a man wanting to touch
the 7 year old he holds in
his arms (In a way he should
never think of)
as he kisses the
resulting scrape from a fall.

And in the young child herself,
although time has yet to
show this monster, a cutter,
a homicidal maniac,
and finally, a suicidal.

All the smiling faces are merely
Masks, Happy Masks hiding the
final result of the one thing
yet to come in each of their
oh-so-un-perfect little lives.