Dress Poem by Marissa McFay

In a room full of people
All of them faces that I know
hearing stories I've heard many times before,
but embellished more each time.
I wonder if I'm just like them,
if I also wear my smile like a dress
if I put on a different one based on each occasion.

Can they see right through me
the way I see beyond each pair of eyes?
Do they know that I despise them?
I sit quietly, hoping to gain no attention,
but one misunderstands my content face with solemnness,
my desire for solitude- depression.

I respond politely and excuse myself to the restroom.
As I look in the mirror, I try on my dress
and take it off once I see it looks awful on me.
I return to the room
but in this place filled with so many that I know,
I've never felt so alone.