Masks

I proceed down the avenue

Toward due north

All are smiling, but few

As I turn onto fourth

A wink here

A smile there

A smirk out of fear

A happiness with wear

Masks, I say!

Facade, pretense, disguise

They are wearing away!

I can hear their cries

I can hear my cries

A look beyond, behind,

Under the guise

Horror is what I find

Horror in its truest form

Pervasive and perpetual sadness

A sea that is much too warm

I am drowning in my madness

A look upon their eyes

Deep into their soul

Little to surmise

Their sea is indeed full

Life is but another masquerade ball

A journey seemingly so kind

But with a trip and a fall

More and more, there is to find

Behind the masks, happiness has declined.