We're All a Lie

I wrote the following poem as a reflection upon our tendency as a culture to hide the truth of our personal pains and struggles. We just can't seem to be honest with each other. My inspiration came from the lines of a song sung by Laura Story: "When I'm tired of pretending and I can't recall my line. Do I say I'm barely breathing or do I say I'm doing fine?" (I've "tinkered" with this poem off and on since December, 2008, but finally decided to just share it, weak as it is.)

We’re All a Lie

Pleasant faces—painted smiles
Like the mimicking of mimes,
Cautious glances—guarded words,
Actors in a play called life.

This accepted fabrication called “polite”
Is the language we are taught to use from childhood,
Where the question receives artificial answers
And dilutes the truth of open honesty.

“I’m doing fine, and all is well.
My family’s good. I like my job.
I’m feeling nice.” You’ve lost your mind
If you think I’d answer otherwise.

This is a game we all are living,
A pretense to obscure offensive truth—
We’re all a lie.

We’re not so well, and things aren’t swell,
With families falling through the cracks.
We feel so blind, have lost our minds.
When will we ever get them back?

Every day we hit the ground,
Crying out without a sound,
Hoping someone else will hear
And help us out.

While our words are empty shells,
Outer coverings for the hells
We’re living through,
We’re all a lie.

Pleasant faces—painted smiles
Like the mimicking of mimes,
Cautious glances—guarded words,
Actors in a play called life.

So the next time someone asks us, “How’d you do?”
Do we presume they want to hear the naked truth?
Throw off masks and show them all our hidden features?
Risk rejection for our frankness and our candor?

Happy faces—bottled tears
Masquerading through our times,
Careful glances—guarded hearts
Measures to advance disguise.


There’s no point unmasking woes only to flaunt them
In the faces of those wishing for our health.
Yet if we could answer questions with directness
We might see that we could help each other out.

Will we ever face together our delusion,
That the others somehow wouldn’t understand
How our lives are not as perfect as imagined
From the front that veils our secret sufferings?

Could not honesty with others really help us
All together learn to soothe our miseries?
And to join each other like a band of brothers
In a quest to conquer our infirmities?

Honest answers—candid words,
Simple trust in what is said
Carefree glances—open hearts
Unadorned sincerity.