My heart beats fast,
“Be still” I say
I stand up at last
And steady my gaze

I gather myself
Then make my way
Down my life’s path
Or my life’s maze

And there you see me
And there you ask
How in this dreary
Moment I laugh

How I stay strong
Despite the past
Remain so calm
When my pain’s been so vast

For a moment I’m nearly
Thrown off track
Then I tell you it’s merely
A balancing act

This stable state
Has effort behind it
You don’t know what it takes
To quiet my mind yet

This calm is not
The absence of thoughts;
It’s created by knots
That tie up the chaos

This confidence
It’s deceiving;
A performance
Of hiding my feelings

And this happiness
Is walking a tightrope;
A moment of carelessness
And it’s a steep slope

All of it
A constant balancing act
An effort to not
Slip and fall off track

But I don’t care
The perseverance it takes me
We can’t choose our fate
But I won’t let mine shake me

So I’ll stand on the tip
Of a mountain with my tiptoes
And I won’t flinch
Not even when the wind blows

See the path is the same
It’s a maze either way
But I won’t let mine take
This smile from my face