What's without?

I watch you walk, with a cheerful grin

But does it truly reflect what’s within?

You seem to saunter, a relaxed stroll

But does it truly reflect a smiling soul?

Your grin, your laugh, that lively smile

Are they meant to mask intentions vile?

Your words, your actions, that confident pose

Are they meant to mask secret woes?

Yet, what’s within, and not without

Isn’t that what we are all about?

Yet, it’s what without that tells the story

While what’s within shares the glory

Of the many diverse roles we play

With their uniquely distinct shades of gray

As we strut within the grand theatre of life

And shout out lines that run riotously rife

With the tales of our inhumanity

While we don the mask of humanity. 

Another Mother and Child

He takes her in his arms, looks her in the eye 

Whispers in her ear, lays her down with a sigh 

He then sits down beside her, tickles her toes 

As he caresses a brow that has absolutely no woes 

Innocence-laden, she breaks into a sweet, little smile 

That seems to ask, “Dad will you be quite a while?” 

He then moves to the door, gives his wife a little kiss 

And thus completes this picture of pure domestic bliss. 

Now in his shed, a few quiet blocks away 

On a makeshift table, all his equipment lay 

Polished and ready for his mission that night 

For the role he would play in his cause, his fight 

Which would ignite a panic, so chaotic and wild

That would engulf the lives of another mother and child.