Hello…how are you…?

Hello…how are you…?

There is a moment

When the mask slips

And the truth is revealed

It happens quickly

A shadow passing across the eyes

The corner of the mouth twisting down

The smile, painted in place

To hide the lack of humour

Becoming a frown.

Old laughter lines, so deeply etched

March across his face in battalions.

Even his posture changes,

The shoulders slump,

The step falters

And his practiced air of indifference

Is soured

By the bitter taste of lies

But every time,

No matter what,

He tells the same old story…

He is well and they should not worry

And why ask when his life is his own,

To do with as he chooses.

Whether he lives or dies, is happy or sad,

Is a question

He will only answer by degrees.

What he will never say

Is it is no life without her.

So why pretend it is…

The same words keep tripping out.

…I am fine…

Of that you can have no doubt…

His truth is

Much harder to define,

And rarely heard, even by him…

…Yes I am here for another day

Sitting alone, my health is

In a bad way

The flesh slowly slipping off

The bone, as I disappear

In front of your prying eyes…

When will you realise

That every day I am lying

And behind this shallow façade

I am slowly dying.

But then, one way and another

We all are…

So instead, he turns and with slow

Deliberate steps, just walks away,

Greasy food slopping

Around on a tray

And sits by himself in a corner,

Hiding behind a broad sheet

To keep people at bay,

And his secret safe

For yet one more

Heart broken

Lonely

Old sad café day.