beautiful mask

i have a beautiful mask

i wear it from the moment i venture outside

until the the moment i enter the house

it seldom fails me

i have lived behind it so long

that even i believe its lie

my mask is carefully created

it ages as i age and seems to match 

the truth of the outside with the inside

still it is thin in spots

and someday i need to retouch the paint

and reenforce the lie

i wish my mask were more beautiful

but it is what i made it long ago

when i step into the house

i see my mask in the mirror

and it satisfies the glance at first

to stare longer exposes the lie

the mask fools most people

at least that is what i tell myself as i

stride bold out in the world alone

among the other masks

some young some old some pure some evil

all concealing some lie

my mask will die with me

will i be aware of the face left behind

as i leave the life as i leave the body

will the mourners drop their masks

or will they clasp them ever tighter

to respect my lie

jeg.

3/19