As I grew up, I was told to put on facades, to never show weakness because weakness caused suffering

I was told of stories of hunger and war, of the generations that had led to the life I now lived

I put on my façade of joy

I filled my life with people I enjoyed, pushed myself into service for others

I put on my façade of joy

My family saw the pain that my mother went through living past predictions of her own death

I put on my façade of joy

I saw sickness reemerge in my mother and the world fall apart

I put on my façade of joy

And as I started to let down my façade

I felt joy