Lock and Key

I gaze into the mirror
And stare at me with a smile.
Fingers pushing at my cheeks,
Practicing an expression so vile.

It’s fake. So sickeningly sweet.
But that's what it takes
To keep in tune with the beat.

Life is dancing. Spinning, twirling.
Dangling a dash of pleasure
Like a leash - it's annoying.
But the taste of pleasure is alluring
And we do anything to keep it coming.

This pleasure in life comes in different forms
Form success to love, or things out of the norm.
Though there are those who are not tempted
From the dash of glee life adorns,
But are instead entranced
By what death abhors.

In its hands, death holds a box.
So small and mysterious,
All held behind a lock.

What will it take for me to find the key
To unlock this lid
And lift it up and see
The items inside
That peak my curiosity?

I blink and stare at myself once more.
The smiles faded, and I try again.
To live life is to dance in lies,
And drown yourself in a façade with knives.
A gun to my head, a key falls in a sea of red.

The music has stopped, life stilled its beat.
My dancing has halted with the stifling of feet.
I turn around and my gaze meets with death.
With my ‘life’ as a key I opened the lock
And inside I see something I can’t tell you just yet.
For your dance with life has yet to end.