Painted Smile

Hanging from the world's strings
A noose of expectation
He is known to be happy
But is nothing more than a painted smile...

Outer shell of diamonds with a pathetic chalk core
Million dollar smile worth less than before
There is nothing further in the world he wants more
Than to be free from the secret from which he swore

The demon inside controls
The heart, the mind
No one truly knows
What's rooted inside

Warm venom 
Thick with poison 
Maliciously breaching the mind
Artificial emotion
Choreographed expression
Bleach the thoughts of all kind

Drowning in tears collected within
Punishing himself because of sin
Nightmares robe his peace within
Constant reminders of how he has been

Tearing through his wrist, flushing out the veins
Releasing his fist, now free from his chains

What lays behind is more than haunting 
He has lost, defeated by the enemy
For the fear is no longer with him taunting
His painted smile, only worth a memory 

If only he referenced the hope he was taught
And how HE may test us with what seems a lot  
Life provides trials every now and again
The answer is found behind every amen