Leave Me Alone

I avoid eye contact

because every time

I look someone in their eyes

I face the fact

they'll look back

and realize

I'm dead inside

I try to hide it

but I'm exhausted by

the effort required

to keep up the act

that I'm alive

to seem in tact

and not impacted

by my circumstances

I mask my pain

to refrain

from the attention I gain

from those who think they can help

"don't let it get the best you"

is easier said

by someone on the outside

who has never experienced it

fuck the audacity

or the ignorance

and all the well wishes

no one's sympathy

ever changed a thing

and I never asked for it