They tell you that you’re strong enough,
That life is hard, that life is tough.
So bear it well, don’t let it show,
Just keep on going, row by row.

But in the night, when lights are low,
My heart beats heavy, sad, and slow.
For all the things I cannot say,
For all the dreams I cast away.

This burden grows, it feeds, it clings,
It wraps around the smallest things.
And in its grip, I fade, I shrink,
No space to breathe, no time to think.

Oh, if they’d see beyond the face,
Beyond the duty, past the grace.
Perhaps they’d know, perhaps they’d find,
A soul too tired, a fractured mind.

.    .    .