The Ache Beneath

I smile like it's second nature
But it's just muscle memory
I laugh in rooms
Where I used to break
And no one sees the fracture

I buried the hurt so deep
I forgot where I left it
Until your name
Dug it up again

There's an ache beneath everything I say
I tremor in the cold, I fake everyday
You were the silence I learned to scream through
But I still flinch when I hear your truth

I stitched myself with borrowed thread
Told myself I was whole again
But healing never asked how I felt
It just covered the wound

I buried the hurt so deep
I called it strength
But it still bleeds
When I'm

There's an ache beneath everything I say
I tremor in the cold, I fake everyday
You were the silence I learned to scream through
But I still flinch when I hear your truth

I'm not broken
I'm just layered with pain
I forgot to name
Name

There's an ache beneath and it's louder now
I tried to bury it, but it found a way out
You were the silence I learned to scream through
But I still hear the hurt you left in me