It's Hard to Smile

It’s hard to smile
When you are crying inside …

With words, hurled like stones,
Were they meant to hurt and wound?
Did they know the fragile shell
Would crack, and with barely a sound
Your soul would be bleeding?

The anguish, as arrows pierce
My heart, and leave a feeling so hollow,
So empty and bare … my stomach
Churns – the sick dread I swallow
As friends turn their backs.

Have I done so dreadfully wrong?
Did I forget my place in this throng?
Is caring for people, taking an interest
And sharing – so very bad and wrong,
That I am taken to task?

Yes … it’s almost impossible to smile
When you are hurting SO MUCH inside.