Polished to perfection
Just like marble
A museum piece
A work of art
Like ancient sculpture
In a gallery
My mask

Porcelain smooth
Sanded and coated
Becomes my mask
With my new features

The mask does not
Reaveal my wrinkles
Or any scars
I do have

I wear it
Whenever needed
Stoic and proud
My shield of armor

Don't you dare
See my sorrow!
Don't you dare
Discover my pain!
Or my faults
Or my weaknesses

Plaster on the outside
May be the mask
But vibrant to the core
Is the soul

The soul not hidden
It finds a way
To the surface
Like the sun
Shines from out
Of the thick, dark clouds,
Thick as fog

Masks crack
People rip them off of us
And nakedness is exposed
To yourself, a monster
The phantom
The devil, himself

To others it is a reminder
Of only themselves
The need to be masked
Calls us all
To cover up
To wear a veil
So others wont laugh at us,
Or judge us
Or make demands on us
Or cry with us

Shedding the mask
Reveals a confession
Who am I kidding?
Why must I hide?
Why am I afraid I'll be so frightening?
Am I more special than you?
The worst of the worst?

No, I am not

The sun cannot be shielded
By chronic darkness
For it will spill out of its prison
To burst out and dispel
Even the blackest of shame

When the Sun commands the Darkness
to scatter
Masks no long work
For self-preservation
Only the rats and their plagues
Run for cover
But we bask in the Light

Like that sustaining sun
Is the soul our sustaining core
When the soul peeps out
Like the sun
It shows a human being much more lovely
Than any mask
Designed for perfection