Howdy Doody Time!
By Reid Baer

When I was very young
smiling wasn’t for fun.
It was a visual aid.
A family secret and
a pathetic charade.
In private we fought like
demons and suffered like
the damned but in public
a silly grin was a
passing parade, but hey,
don’t tell anybody
what you’re really feeling:
sad – or mad – or scared. Just
act foolishly glad be-
cause you don’t want that home
grown cavalcade of hurt
raining down on you for
telling the truth and so
even today I must
say I may put on this
mask - put my emotions
away even if the
cosmos comes crumbling down
around me – I’ll tell you
everything is swell … but
hell! there’s a price to pay
for one big A-Okay!
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