The Light Behind Your Mask

The laughter in the room feels like a wall you built yourself. They are smiling at a story you told, but they are smiling at a mask you crafted from fear.

You sit there in the silence behind your own voice, certain that if they saw the real you, the joy would turn to ash. But the light does not need your construction to shine.

It was there before you learned to hide. There is light within a person of light, and it lights up the whole world even when you try to cover it.

You came from the light, and you will return to it, regardless of the costume you wear tonight. The version of you they love is a shadow, but the version of you that exists in this dark hour is the truth.

And the truth needs no defense to be held.