Stage

I locate my mask and I begin to play

I act out the part given to me,

But it’s I alone who takes the stage

The theatre is large, it carries the world.

Everyone’s assembled, I cannot back out

So I grab my first mask and I begin.

There are no words to accompany this

Show because people have to listen with their hearts.

Each mask I don will show the emotions,

The baggage I carry,

The heartbreak, the sorrow, the agony, it goes on.

The mask I wear will show my heart.

The first mask is that of a babe.

Smiling, crying, possibly fear,

It shows almost no true emotions because

Of Its age.

I act out my part and bow and head back

To grab the next mask to cover my face.

Round two of the play displays

The face of child. Again, no real

Emotions because my character has

not developed.

The child laughs and runs and plays with glee.

Run back and put on mask three.

Now, this mask I wear

Shows that of a troubled teen,

Angry and hurt and their peace distilled.

They do not trust,

They wander through the stage broke as can be,

The crowd begins to laugh as I grab mask four.

This mask depicts another generation

Real emotions are starting to form.

I play through my part, and another,

And another.

Each mask showing someone a little older,

And then at last I reach the final mask.

I walk out on stage with nothing covering my face.

The audience begins to show its displeasure.

It’s the end of the play, and my mask is not visible.

I am the mask.

I have wrinkles and grey hair and I am in a wheelchair.

The mask is my life.

This mask shows the life I was living,

The lies, the pain, the wisdom I gained.

The love I doled out that was

Never returned.

I am a shell of the baby, of all the masks I gave donned.

This last mask I wear tonight is the final mask of death.