What Lies Beneath



A masquerade of strength and solidarity
 A smile concealing the pain
 No one will know what you're going through
 If you just keep playing the game

 Don't let anyone close enough
 To see behind those eyes
 They'll see what you've been hiding
 They'll see through your disguise

If they knew the true condition
 Of your deepest inner heart
 Their sadness would overwhelm you
 Your facade would fall apart

There's not a soul that would understand
 Nor would they ever believe
 The links that we go through
 To hide the pain of what lies beneath

About this poem

I was in a dark place in my life personally, but never wanted to show it to my children and family. So I write.

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Written on September 16, 2008

Submitted by Shellybelly387 on September 15, 2022

Modified on March 22, 2023

30 sec read
110

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXAX XBXB XCAC XXAX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 544
Words 97
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Shelly Thompson Mears

I am a very private person and very few people even know that I write poetry. It is my way of releasing emotions. Every poem I write is inspired by situations in my life, whether good or bad. Writing is my therapy, and gets me through tragedy, triumph, pain, healing, sadness, and joy. I'm thankful for the gift of putting thoughts onto pages, that I can return to when I need them. more…

All Shelly Thompson Mears poems | Shelly Thompson Mears Books

1 fan

Discuss the poem What Lies Beneath with the community...

2 Comments
  • lovingempath
    This is beautifully written Shelly, and evokes a lot of my own inner conflict about letting others in. So many of the poems that really deserve recognition seem to go through the voting process, and don't get nominated. I'm not sure people take the time to truly analyze everything about each poem. If they did...I believe you would have won an honor. Great job, and I hope to see you this month :) 
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • "Seth"
    It represents me
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"What Lies Beneath" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/140489/what-lies-beneath>.

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