I Live, Disguised (Madison Elizabeth Holland-Lafayette, LA)

This evening
I am a karaoke star
I thank those roaring crowds
Sing my heart out and say goodnight
Tonight
I am a prostitute
Selling my wares at a local bar
Show that skin to yet another meal ticket
This morning
I am a young professional
Typing furiously on a keyboard
Eyes locked onto a screen that furthers my career
At lunch
I am an alcoholic
Downing drinks before returning to a dead end job
Counting down the hours till the day ends
This afternoon
I am a country girl
Yearning for a muddy four wheeler
Perhaps a cowboy to sweep me off my feet
This evening
I am a flapper
Dancing coolly through a club
Cigarette drooping from my pouting mouth
Tonight
I am somebody's true love
Holding them tightly in my bed
Dreaming of something just a little better
This morning
I am a gambler
Staying at the casino until day breaks
Holding tightly to my lucky dice
This high noon
I am a mother
Chaperoning children to a movie
Wearily breaking up the same fight for the fourth time
This afternoon
I am a librarian
Doing research in the stacks
Getting sidetracked by a romance novel
This evening
I am a hostess
Greeting guests and making small talk cordially
Locking eyes with a friend knowingly
Tonight
I am only myself, and tired
The faces I put on throughout my day exhaust me
I do not know
How to live without them
So I wake up to another day
Of living through
The extensions of myself
My many disguises.

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