On the outside
She's normal
A good, quiet girl
Never causing trouble
Just blending in
On the outside
Noboby knows
On the inside
She's crying
Crying herself to sleep
As she spirals downward
Trying to survive
Her own personal storm
On the inside
On the outside
She pretends to be content
Puts on a mask
For her teachers and family
They never see anything more
Than the outside
But on the inside
She's dying
Slowly fading away
Like a shadow at sunset
Turning gray on the pavement
On the inside
She finds the others
The ones who understand
Who know why she cuts
To escape the dead feeling
Spreading like a plague
On the inside
The pain is a relief
Letting her know it's real
That she's really here
If only for a little while
But the pain fades
And so does reality
She feels dead once more
With the others
She feels alive
For the first time
She feels wanted
Accepted by others
Because she's wanted
Not because they have to
Not because they felt pity for her
But because she is treasured
They saw the real her
The storyteller
The artist
The dreamer
And they loved her
She was a jewel
Rather than the pebble she'd been all her life
On the outside
Nothing changed
But on the inside
The fading slowed
She could forget the emptiness, the loneliness
If only for a little while
Til she feels dead once more