We Wear the Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myraid subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!



Need anything be said?
This poem is grand.
Almost as much as the poet.

But to where has it led?
This story doth stand
On more than just one moment.

Truth be told
These words like gold
Created by Paul Dunbar,

Are more than just cold
Truths randomly pulled
That shine like a sky with no star.

Our culture hath made
Us hide all emotion
As though we should be ashamed,

So silently we stayed
Not to make a commotion
But box ourselves to be tamed.

But what is the use
Of standing this abuse
When it only makes us ill?

We must let them loose
There is no excuse
Our feeling must no longer be stilled.