I Wear A Mask

I Wear A Mask
by Gabe Redel


A mask is on my face
everywhere I go.
Some may say that hanging
such a heavy board
on my head is bad for my health,
but I still put it on each day I wake.

I do not know of a better way to live.
Once was a time that I believed
that being fake was something
that I did not wish to be.

I would avoid it at all costs.
But now I wake up in the morning
and think about the time of day
that I will need to put my mask
in my hands
and place it against my eyes and over my mouth.

At times,
I am scared that I will not be able
to lift it over my head
before I have to meet the people of the day.

It is a heavy piece of equipment,
but it is necessary to survive.

What would life be
if we did not need to wear a mask?
It may be that people would not have barriers.
We would not be separated
by skin and muscle and bone.
I would not have to ask so many questions.
I would not misunderstand.

This world, it would have to be perfect.
These dreams would have to be known by everybody.
My ideas would be your ideas
and your thoughts would be my thoughts
and I would not feel angry
and I would not feel the need to cover my sadness
and I would be just like you
in a way that we both would see clearly.

I would have nothing to hide.
I would not ever feel humiliated
or disagree with something that I should not
disagree with.

But that is impossible.
So I will wear my mask.
I will let it show you
that this world can be perfect.
It can be perfectly hidden
behind a small amount of time.
Enough time for what is imperfect
to be reshaped and rethought
and spoken in a way that you will understand.