The Masking

I sometimes wonder whether you are wearing a mask, that your alluring crimson blush and perfume is a subterfuge made up to enamor me - not crafted by a desire to deceive but by a need to conceal, that beneath your beauty lies a truer self you do not want to reveal. Perhaps you fear that if seen under the scrutiny of a clearer light, your mask may fall apart and expose a deeper truth, an essence of the sublime which, in this world, could overwhelm and blind, thus choosing to adorn yourself with fragrant petals and a thorn.