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The Mask

The Mask 
 
You hooked me with your charming ways 
And I fell hard and fast.
I couldn’t have believed you 
If you said it wouldn’t last. 
 
I didn’t know what hit me 
when you started with your scorn.
What should have been my harbor, 
quickly became my storm. 
 
I tried and tried to please you, 
jumping through the hoops you held. 
And when I couldn’t reach them, 
hard to the ground I fell. 
 
So then I walked on eggshells, 
hoping that they wouldn’t break 
and cause you to say things to me 
my spirit couldn’t take. 
 
I begged you for some kindness; 
my lowest point in life. 
You sneered and spewed more insults 
at this shell that was your wife. 
 
One day your mask slipped off your face 
and shattered to the floor. 
And I saw what lurked behind it, 
knowing I could take no more. 
 
Left picking up the pieces 
while you deceived my family,
I had to grieve alone 
and watch you reap their sympathy. 
 
Someday your mask will slip again, 
your lies will be exposed. 
And you’ll stop being lauded 
for the fraud that you have sold. 
 
Next time that you go hunting
for another heart to take,
I pray you never find one
just to pillage and forsake. 
 
I’m left now with this lesson, 
having learned it once before: 
Don’t tell yourself it’s sunny 
while you’re standing in a storm. 
 
And guard your heart with sword and shield, 
for there’s darkness you can’t see. 
Love shouldn’t make your heart break, 
but rather set it free. 

Copyright © | Year Posted 2025




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Date: 4/23/2025 10:57:00 PM
Thanks for sharing this... exposing your thoughts through your unique poetic style. Welcome to Poetry Soup. I welcome you with the love of the Lord, expressed by John 3:16 of the Bible, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Be blessed.
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Date: 4/20/2025 8:15:00 AM
Tough one. Onwards and upwards.
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Date: 4/19/2025 11:38:00 PM
a hard lesson but well learnt. yet do accept, forgive and move on, letting not soul’s vibrance diminish. superbly penned poem
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Book: Reflection on the Important Things