A façade

It's all a façade that we put up,
trying to hide the turmoil
of thoughts and feelings,
as shards of nightmares
-of what once were our dreams 
crush us from inside
tearing away our existence
with each thrust, gnawing away
our sanity, one thread at a time; 

It's all a façade that we put up,
hiding behind those smiles
a trail of tears, which appears
as if a line on this façade
a reflection of an imagined reality
a remainder of how it could have been 
a reminder of what it is not,
a rubble of that we feared loosing 
and then believed to have lost;

It's all a façade that we put up,
over a hollow 
we keep digging with bare hands
a desert we water relentlessly,
carrying on with our lives
one day, one hour, one breath at a time
indifferent to the seeds
which if planted, would have bloomed
a garden on this deserted grave;

It's all a façade that we put up,
pretentions and assumptions
of all being well
of taking the world on its face value,
not daring to enter, or even acknowledge
the bog of feelings engulfing our soul, 
scathed by the mask, yet waiting incessantly
for another to apply the potion, 
to share our load, help us heal;

It's all a façade that we put up,
posing as if all is well
even when our soul is too heavy 
to carry on for another day,
yet we keep dragging our burdens
from one day to another,
from this week to next, months and years on
from one person to another, 
without pausing to ponder;

you see, we have found 
comfort -in this lifeless life.