Masks

Don't be fooled by me...Don't be fooled by the face I wear...I 
wear a mask...I wear a thousand masks...and not one of the masks 
is truly me 

Pretending is an art.It is an art that has become almost second 
nature to me... But don't be fooled. I give the the impression
that I am secure, that all is sunny and unruffled within me and
without; that confidence is my name and coolness my game. It may 
appear that the water is calm and that I am in command, and that 
I truly need no one. But please do not believe me. My surface 
may seem smooth,. But my surface is my mask. My every varying 
and all concealing mask. 

Beneath lies now smugness. No complacence. Beneath it all dwells 
the real me... In confusion, in fear, in utter aloneness.. But
of course I hide all of that. I don't want anyone to know it. I 
panic at the thought of my weakness and my fear being exposed 
for the world to see. That is why I frantically create a mask
to hide behind. A nonchalant and sophisticated facade  to help 
me pretend, to help shield me from the glance that knows. But
that glance is precisely my salvation and I know it. That is of
course  if it is followed by acceptance... If it is followed by
love...

It is the only thing that can liberate me from myself. From my 
own self built prison walls. From the barriers that I so 
painstakingly erect. It is the only thing that can assure me of
what I cannot assure myself - That I really am something. That I
truly do hold some worth.

Who am I? you might wonder... I am someone that you know very 
well... I am every man that you see. I am every woman you 
meet... I am in every baby you hear... I am standing right in 
front of you now... Please love me... 

                               ©Copyright Don Darling Jr. 
							                and Trace Hallmark
							   All rights reserved