I Fake Being Happy

By Shanthanu Venugopal

I make people forget

Forget about their problems and regrets

I hold hands and quench parched tongues

Pretty faces for ugly mugs

Give free speeches to free species,

Free meaning to free dealings

Fleeing ferocious thought, put up a safety net

And catch falling hearts.

I put out parking tickets for empty parking spots,

Place worth where there is not

Happiness in rotation

A new dosage for a cyclical slot

I used to feel more

Wooden smiles on every door,

Ceramic tiles with fake grins on every floor,

Metal clasps stretching back lips for every t.v screen filled with more and more

And what for? Or for what?

For something deep behind the cut

Proposal at the altar, to the world, lore built on fake trust

I breathe in CO2, release O2, create rust and corrupt what the truth was

Insecurity leading to hysteria, a universally accepted feeling of paranoia

But keep it classy, above board

I’m gettin kinda sappy,

I fake being happy.

By Shanthanu Venugopal