Lyric

Before the elevator opens

I fix my mouth in the steel

Pull my shoulders into place

Make my breathing look ideal

Badge on, sleeves down

Phone screen turned away

I leave the worst part of me

In the bathroom for the day

No one needs the full report

No one asks for proof

I know the version they can use

So I give them that as truth

Public Face

I wear it clean

Easy to read

Hard to reach

Public Face

Nothing out of place

I can disappear

Behind a usable face

I answer in complete lines

No gap where worry shows

I laugh at the right second

Keep the ending of it closed

Someone says I seem composed

I thank them like it fits

They do not see the cost

Of staying good at this

I file the panic neatly

Where nobody has to look

Turn every open sentence

Into something they can book

Public Face

I wear it clean

Easy to read

Hard to reach

Public Face

Nothing out of place

I can disappear

Behind a usable face

There is a woman in the restroom

Counting tiles above the sink

There is a woman at the meeting

Nodding before she can think

One of them is almost asking

One of them already knows

Which one gets to leave the stall

And which one has to go

Public Face

I wear it clean

Easy to read

Hard to reach

Public Face

No visible break

I can keep the day moving

With a borrowed face