how many lies have lived in your smile,

stretching truth across the mile?

how many whispers, soft and sweet,

hide the cracks beneath your feet?

how many times did shadows play,

turning night to mimic day?

how many threads of trust were torn,

in the silence of the sworn?

is a lie a shield, a fleeting balm,

a tempest's rage or ocean's calm?

does it linger, carve, and stay,

or fade with dawn's forgiving ray?

how many lies till hearts grow cold,

till stories wilt and truths are sold?

how many masks will faces wear,

before the soul stands truly bare?

count them not, for none can know,

the weight of truths left to forego.

but in the silence, hear their song,

and ask yourself where lies belong.