Composure

Give me a minute--
I need just one minute--
I just need one minute to think.
I can not answer that
with my throat squeezed shut,
so filled with tears I might sink.

I can’t let you in
with such a mess inside;
you’ll see the disaster this is.
I am not together
and I do not remember
any other way to live.

I will show my face
when I am smiling
and I’m so very well-behaved.
You will see me shining,
all happy and unconcerned,
and my eyes a little glazed.

My laugh will be light,
I’ll flutter my lashes,
And I’ll say what you want to hear.
I can be so charming,
my smile so disarming,
And there’s no one left in here.