Lies We Know Truth - a poem by Ana Clark December 2025
Don’t say. We don’t.
Say.
Mouth and eyes-
no way.
Yet, knowing—
they.
No yay.
Not yesterday.
NOT today.
Like that inside joke.
Joke?
Okay.
No
way.
We all know,
not okay.
So stay.
We stay.
Play the part,
parade the day.
Smile—
faint, fake,
paper-thin display.
Wish it holds,
wish it stays.
But … cracks betray
what mouths won’t say.
Eyes stray
where truths lay.
And hearts weigh
what silence may.
No way.
Not today.
Not okay.
....
Photo credit: Camila Quintero Franco from Unsplash. (Thank you xo)
....
Only… to myself… I say.
Whispers fold,
fold into gray.
Echoes hide
where shadows play.
Breath held tight,
clenched, confined.
Hands stay still,
heart aligns.
No voice,
no way.
No night,
no day.
The quiet hums,
it drifts, it stays.
A secret drum
beneath the gaze.
And yet,
I feel them near—
the knowing eyes,
the mouths unclear.
Only… to myself… I say.
Only…
not okay.
Loop it back—
don’t speak, don’t stay.
Mouths close,
eyes stray,
no way,
no way,
no way.
Shadows lean,
shadows sway.
What’s hidden deep
will never lay.
Fold the words,
fold the day.
Fold the thought
that wants to say.
And still,
they know,
they feel,
they weigh.
No yay,
not today,
not okay.
Only…
only…
to myself… I say.
Sorry. I'm still here.