She Lives

She smiles at me and I am left mesmerized.
But there's something hidden from the eye;
Placated pains from a painful past,
Masked under a far more pleasant alibi.

So I smile back at her, but then she looks away;
She has not the strength it'd take to meet my eye.
She knows the truth's not hidden from me anymore.
Smothered, she wills herself not to live this lie.

My frisking eyes, they stare her down -
Her immediate discomfort is evident.
She feels bare and barren under my glare,
So vulnerable, so blue, so diffident.

And so I put my arms around her now.
She looks, I try one last sad smile.
Her wounds will slowly heal with time,
And I'll hold her close, all that while.