My mask

Location

I first entered this world from behind a curtain

into a bright world.

 The first man who touched me wore a mask.

A bright yellow mask,

which only showed his eyes.

Suddenly though, all of those masks and curtains disappeared.

They didn’t reappear again until much later

Those early years, I’ve determined,

are filled with too much honesty for masks.

 

The next time I encountered masks

 I once again found myself emerging from behind a curtain.

This curtain much more extravagant than the first.

And red. Very red.

This curtain, when opened, revealed a bright world once again.

A bright world accompanied by boisterous applause.

The masks surrounding me I found out to be harmless.

They were only worn hours at a time

and sometimes taken off with as little as a splash of water.

 

The most dangerous mask I have encountered

was one like I had never seen before.

It was not bright yellow.

It did not come off with water.

No one could see it.

I couldn’t see it.

The most dangerous mask was mine.

For a while I was lost behind that mask.

I couldn’t see where I was going and I was alone.

 

It wasn’t until I was finally able to get rid of that mask that I was able to see.

I saw where I was going and what was around me.

I wasn’t alone as I had thought all along.

My parents, friends, siblings, teachers, and coworkers

were all there holding my hand.

And it turns out that even though

my eyes didn’t know where I was going,

my heart did.

 

I found myself on this wonderful path.

And guess what. I still wear a mask.

But this mask is different. Better.

A bright yellow mask,

which only shows my eyes.

This mask doesn’t hide who I am.

My mask is who I am

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