Master of Make Believe

(082005) – andrew adams

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It was autumn then and you could tell,
because the leaves were turning the color of your hair
and all around the girls were putting on
their turtlenecks and jeans.
We were standing outside,
playing Make Believe,
and everything just felt right.
Any fate and any whim seemed ours for the taking,
and anyone could see that was all we needed.

They called me the Master of Make Believe,
and I used to pretend they were right,
but that was when I was on my pedestal,
when all the world seemed a stage,
and when faking life was just a grade.
But now it seems like I'm all alone,
and it's so much harder to play that way,
and alone it's hard to just pretend.

But back then I thought it was such a joy,
with shrunken sweaters and auburn remnants,
and my biggest challenge was hiding away.
But I saw you standing there on the outskirts,
wearing a smirk and a little skirt,
and in my land of Make Believe I left my mirror
and I told them all to Make Believe it was me,
and on the fringes of the crowd, you were standing there,
and your mom was waiting just beyond,
and we were thinking the same thoughts
but it was you who said the words.

And that's what I think of when I need to Make Believe,
when I need to remember to pretend to be happy.
I tell myself that you started it while my mirror distracted,
and I tell myself you look forward to coming home,
as much as we looked forward to Homecoming, then,
and I Make Believe that we'll be back to normal,
and you Make Believe that I'm not Making Believe,
and then you leave because you prefer my mirror,
there's a pang in my chest and it becomes much harder
to tell myself I'm the Master of Make Believe.