#masks poems on Hello Poetry

Ann M Johnson Sep 2017

Masks we sometimes wear
Wearing a happy face when we want to cry
why do we disguise what is truely inside and hide behind these masks we wear?
A comedy mask to hide the pain and tears that we still prefer not to face after all these years
the true tragedy that we endured is buried deep beneath
We can become slaves to fear and let the mask turn to a horrific one if we let the fear overcome us.
We can be so afraid of rejection instead of seeking protection from fear itself or instead of letting someone know us for who we really are.
It is better to be real with those around us then to be suffocating behind the masks we sometimes chose to wear
It can be so freeing to just except ourselves and let others see our unique real qualities instead of a masked altered identity.

I used to some years back not let people know how I really felt and hide my feelings. In doing so I became one of my own worst enemies. It was like holding my own self in an emotional prison.

#emotion #pain #depression #dispair #masks

Devin Ortiz Aug 2017

Lying on the Couch

She says, "Go on, tell me."

So I do, I talk about these devils.
That sudden swarm inside,
I speak of the paralyzing misbeat
Of a stressed out chest.

"That's your anxiety?"

It takes me over, controls me,
Helpless behind a steering wheel
Of a maniac's mania driven horror
But I'm stuck for the ride.

"And who is this other?"

Nameless. Just a foul thing.
There were others, masks
A sea of voices, drowning me out
High tide and its sink or swim

"Go on."

When I'm calm, its quiet.
But I know they slither on,
The engrainimg entrenching thoughts
Of cruelty thats not my own.

"You're afraid?"

I'm wandering about the darkness
With fiendish things in mind
A pitiful puppet of anxiety
Waiting for the end of times

#stress #anxiety #therapy #masks #voices

Paraphrase Aug 2017

Masks

I'm selling all my faces,
All the ones I've worn,
From the happy to the torn.
The one with the smiles,
The one with the scorn.

I'm selling all my faces,
To anyone willing to see,
Through the one on me.
The one that hides my scars,
The one that sets me free.

I'm selling all my faces,
But there's one I'm not so keen,
To be sold or to be seen,
It's the one that's burnt on me,
The only one I mean,
The one that no-one's seen.

I'm selling all my faces.

#faces #masks #reflection

Jane Aug 2017

Masks

We're all actors.
Lying is at the core of it.

Lying to mask the extremes of our emotional spectrum.
A mask can be whatever it is you chose.
The comedian? The artist? The leader?
You can be whatever it is you choose.

"Be yourself."
My question is, which one?

#lying #acting #masks #feelings #emotions #yourself

Rebel Heart Aug 2017

Undressed.

Because underneath this thick armor
That I put on as skin
I'm nothing but starved bones
And a broken heart
Empty
for miles
And miles
And miles
Within

I found out Rebel Heart has a "lyric wall" and I read this particular snippet and realized I heard this original song of hers. Makes me wonder how many other original masterpieces she's been hiding. You can expect many more 'sneak peeks' of the lyrical poetry from this infamous wall though. I only wish I could hear the songs along with them ~BM

#broken #depression #empty #heart #heartbreak #bones #skin #masks #armor #miles

Fritzi Melendez Jul 2017

The Facade of the Mask Maker.

I hate how you would give me painted masks for me to wear as a gift of your love.

How you said that if I wore them I would show you love that only comes from above.

How you said it was for the better but at the end it wasn't enough for you to stay.

And slowly and surely you began to fade away.

You said I had to change, and baby, if it was for you, I would.

Always for you my love, I thought to myself, I should.

And I began to mold myself into fitting your criteria.

But I guess that led to our demise and my hysteria.

And I began to think when I'm left all alone.

If it was me or you that burned down our sacred home.

And I try to take off the masks that has melted onto my face.

And then I realized your masks were never replaced.

And, god, I felt so ******* dumb for letting you do this to me.

But it's okay, because i still love you, can't you see?

And slowly I'm chipping away your painted masks.

But it's so hard to move when you've been drowning in the bottom of a flask.

But I'm sure you don't understand, besides, your mask was easily ridden.

And we become a love that is painfully forbidden.

It was always for you, my love, but never for me, and so...

I hope you know that I still love you, and you easily let that go.

A poem for my ex, who changed me in order to love him but never did the same for me.

#masks #depression #sorrow #love #breakup #tragedy #ex #heal

Tara Liz Driscoll Jul 2017

Do Not Be Distrubed

Do not be disturbed
If I lack the ability
To sugar-coat
The beautifully human
The tragically human
Or
If I refuse to try rewrite
The book of life

Do not be disturbed
By us
Mad mischief-makers
Us
Multi colored misfits
Who wander the market place
All dressed up
With nowhere to go
But here

Do not be disturbed
By us frenetically tainted
Us
Silly sprouted beings
Who speed the highways
On a wild goose chase
To wherever

Dearest do not be disturbed
If I regurgitate
Some heavenly-scented hairball
From some holy rap sheet
From some wasted wobbling wino
Do not be disturbed
If I smell a rat and show my teeth

Do not be disturbed
By the impending days ahead
When some grizzly goon
Some long-clawed nimbat
Some long-forgotten ghost
Coughs up and spits in your face

Of course be disturbed if you must
But the days are short and the hour is nigh
The time for braggards and barbies
Monsters and missionaries
For mystery and myth
Will soon quietly pass away
And you wont be able
To hear a pin drop
Dearest
Do not be disturbed.

The futility of judgement, the unabashed nature of the joker who holds up a mirror .Written around Halloween when it's kosher to display our alter-egos and or disowned parts . The weight of putting up false fronts and then being confronted with the emotional ghosts and goons that hide in the unconscious. Finding my truth within the mayhem

#myth #emotionalmonsters #unconscious #shadow #duality #sugarcoating #masks #passage #letting #go

Alec Jul 2017

Masks

Perhaps the reason of why we hide
Behind our many masks
Comes more from the inside
The hidden does not speak
The hidden does not feel
A mask can be bent and broken
Take the blunt force of your opponent
Meanwhile you are safe
Watching, waiting, just to see
Is it safe to come out,
Or will they hurt me?

#masks #hidden #pain

R M Jul 2017

Critics

I wear this costume you
provide
And recite the script you
wrote.
I shove myself aside
to live in the shadows of
this person you created.
I live this lie daily.
With no breaks in character.
Have I pleased you yet?
Are you satisfied with
my performance?
Now that I've changed myself
for your enjoyment,
do you love me?
Because I'm *******
dying.

#uncomfortable #conformity #society #expectations #judgement #lies #masks