# @mishighpriestess on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DLXsHnAuGMq
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/59807991-mishighpriestess-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/bccbe9a3e9.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-06-26T16:08:05.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Misty Dawn Rodriguez (@mishighpriestess) — https://gondola.cc/mishighpriestess

## Caption

“What’s Behind That Smile?”
By Both Hands on the Mic

They say,
“Smile for the camera.”
So I did.
Lips curled like a question mark
around teeth clenched tight with secrets.
And no one asked the right one:
“What are you hiding behind that light?”

‘Cause baby,
behind this smile
is a graveyard of swallowed screams,
a closet full of don’t-tell-nobody dreams,
a face beat flawless,
but the soul?
Unseen.
Unclean.
Under construction
with caution tape no one ever reads.

Behind that smile,
she bruises in designer.
He shatters in Gucci.
They laugh in limelight
but sleep beside silence
so loud it cancels applause.

Behind that smile
is a child still waiting to be rescued,
a woman pretending sex equals love,
a man who ain’t cried since ‘92
because his daddy said “boys don’t feel”
and that commandment became law.

Behind that smile
is the house that ain’t a home,
the hand that once held love
now controls with chrome.
It’s red carpets and court cases,
baby showers and restraining orders.
Private jets to hell
with a mimosa in hand.

Don’t let the twinkle fool you.
Behind the sparkle
is a storm praying not to show up on camera.
Behind the “I’m good!”
is a voicemail she won’t check
because it might be her breaking point calling back.

Let me be clear:
not all smiles are lies
but a damn lot are lullabies
sung to lull our pain to sleep.
And I get it—
the world ain’t kind to crying.
The world sells “fine” as fashion.
Tears don’t trend.
Vulnerability don’t monetize
unless it’s cropped, captioned, and commodified.

But what if…
What if we dared to un-grin?
To sit with the ache
instead of stuffing it in?

What if we said:
“Today, I am not okay.”
And let that truth
be holy.
Let the raw
be revolutionary.

Because the smile?
It’s not the sin.
It’s the silence behind it
that’s killing us slow.

So the next time someone smiles—
really smiles—
and it don’t quite meet their eyes…
Don’t just compliment the shine.
Ask about the storm.
Be the ear they thought didn’t exist.
Be the safe that don’t need a key.
Be the truth
that gives their truth permission to breathe.

#BothHandsOnTheMic #BehindTheSmile #UnmaskYourTruth #HealingInTheMirror #TruthTellerVibes #PoetryAsMedicine

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 5
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

healinginthemirror, poetryasmedicine, truthtellervibes, unmaskyourtruth, behindthesmile, bothhandsonthemic

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