DISTRESS SIGNAL

I am not crying all the time anymore

When appropriate I am still the same old firecracker

Who says the strangest, silliest jokes

And pulls off the prettiest dimpled smile

When inside me there is a storm brewing

Inside me, an earthquake

People are running outside of buildings

And some under tables in helpless panic

Inside me, a sinking ship, a plane crash

Sometimes it’s a mother mourning for her unborn child

Other times it’s as simple as a paper cut

You don’t understand; pain is universal

Loss happens everywhere and I assure you

I know loss like the back of my hand

So just because you have not seen me breaking down

Doesn’t mean I didn’t have a rough night

Or that I slept soundly like a baby

Or that I never spent an extra ten minutes

In the bathroom stall an hour ago

Trying to compose myself together

Because everywhere inside me

There is a bomb ticking off somewhere in Hiroshima

Just let me put that smile out there

As it explodes

Note: This is in reply to a friend who thinks I am full of pride and that I won't admit that I have lost just because I act normally everyday post-worst-bus-ride, post-worst-phone-call.