Struggle

Unzip this skin and leave me bare
Naked and cold
Locked in the depths of despair.

Watch as they pass by me with a jubilant stare.
I should charge you admission for that glare.

But you turn to me with that halfhearted smile, pity
and disgust in your eyes. I hear the snicker as you walk on by.
Don't you know I see through the facade with tears in my eye?

I want to scream at you and let you know that I'm just like you!
I laugh, I cry and I love deeply...maybe even more than you.

But you will never see me the way I see you. I'm only seen for my body
that fits perfectly in a zoo. So walk away and be thankful you don't
have to carry the weight of so many who ridicule you.

In the Mirror

She looks familiar to me.
A close resemblance to who I used to be.

Maybe a few years older with a touch of gray.
All so familiar except the emptiness her smile
fails to hide away.