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destroying the mask
by Rachel Johnson
Destroying a Mask
Word by word Emotion by emotion
Deed by deed
Expression by expression
Second by second
Minute by minute
Day by day
Year by year
They created
My statue
--A mask--
To hide me.
Every detail of my life
From my crooked face
To my negative beliefs
To my tone deaf hearing
To my extra pounds of fat
To my low self-esteem
Is on the statue.
I am trapped
Beneath
The ugly mask
Of what would other people think,
I know what's best for you,
It's for your own good,
Life's not fair,
You need boundaries,
because I'm the adult,
I'm bigger than you,
I'm stronger than you,
I say so,
This is who you are,
Who you'd better be,
Or else...
SomedayI will discover how to
Destroy a mask;
To slither out,
shedding it as a snake its skin;
to leave a hollow, defenseless statue.
Then, I Will destroy the mask
Forever.
I want to beat it,
Hit it,
Kick it,
Shatter it into a trillion pieces
Of dust
That float away
That can never again be resembled.
Once I escape the prison of my parents'expectations,
I will finally be me.
Once I've destroyed the mask,
I will be free.
Strong, confident, intelligent,
Beautiful and good,
As I was from the beginning of time
Until I was forced to hide my shining light
Underneath the mask
In fear and hate. For now,
You know only the mask,
But I am watching,
Waiting,
Learning.
Somehow, somewhere, sometime,
I will see the truth, the knowledge of how to destroy a mask,
and I will show the world how to live.
© 2001 Rachel Johnson
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