As I look through an album
I think of my once happy life
Of how I always smiled
Until I realize how fake that smile is
Smiling for a picture
A picture worth a thousand words
A thousand words of pain
A pain that has only grown
Then I realize this happy child
Did not exist
Could not exist
Because the memories of a troubled childhood come rushing back
As if the gates have been pushed open byt he realization,
or maybe by the hate
the guilt
the pain
So many feelings
So many burdens
So much pain