How Are You?

A smile

How are you?

 

I don't know where to begin

Things are different now

Things are harder now

To say the truth would be socially unacceptable

Unconventional

Obscene

 

So I say "I'm fine"

*pause*

A smile

How are you?

 

Everything seems to be wrong

I'm struggling

Drowning

Barely coping

To say the truth would be socially unacceptable

Unconventional

Obscene

 

So I say "I'm fine"

*pause*

A smile

How are you?

 

Flashbacks to late nights

And even later mornings

Exhaustion and sickness

Plagued by anxiety

To say the truth would be socially unacceptable

Unconventional

Obscene

 

So I say "I'm... fine"

*pause*

A smile

How are you?

 

My mind is screaming

I'm trapped inside

My outer shell a facade

A facsimile of myself

I'm off kilter

To say the truth would be socially unacceptable

Unconventional

Obscene

 

So I say through gritted teeth "I'm fine"

*pause*

A pained smile

How are you?