Best Mask Poems
In a house beside the forest lives a woman and her son
He is scarred by burns and fire – hidden kept from everyone
There is land where he can wander far away from prying eyes,
But he misses friends to play with; all alone he often cries.
That is why he gets excited at the thought of Halloween
He can mix with other children without fear of being seen.
Mother picks the perfect costume that will fit his height and size
Then she adds a mask for comfort – the completion of disguise.
The boy behind the mask wishes every day was Halloween
He'd gladly offer friendship to any child who wasn't mean
But he knows that one day he will be too old for trick or treat
And he prays each morn to see the sunshine on a public street
Even though he realizes his wish may never be fulfilled
For he'd have to learn to avoid stares and let confidence build
After reading the sad tale of Frankenstein, he sheds a tear
As he can relate to Frankenstein and sees him as a peer
And so he keeps reading stories of people judged by their looks
His greatest fear is what will happen when he runs out of books
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a collaboration between Paul Callus & Carolyn Devonshire
Forgive me for loving you, even though you never asked,
a secret kept like a pebble in my shoe, now smarting.
If heart dares to belong, it's just a weakness from my past.
Make scars worth the fight, put back the pin from grenade you grasped,
moment of truth arrives, met with two lips bruised and parting.
Forgive me for loving you, even though you never asked.
I thought I walked the streets alone, wearing a grotesque mask.
You were inside me all along, sweet message imparting.,
if heart dares to belong, it's just a weakness from my past.
How I've missed your awaited touch, and hoping it would last,
our sun grant'd pardons galore, for love's kindled restarting.
Forgive me for loving you, even though you never asked.
I didn't say why I came back, you never took me to task.
tho' written in an inkling, the tear your eye was guarding..
if heart dares to belong, it's just a weakness from my past.
You never miss something until it goes and die is cast.
Your present regifted, from a long ago departing.
Forgive me for loving you, even though you never asked.
If heart dares to belong, it's just a weakness from my past.
26 December 2020
Behind the mask there is a frail and fragile me
Enigmas clothed in conundrums; that the naked I can’t see
'Behind the mask is concealed, my authenticity
Examine my history to unravel my perplexing mysteries
Behind the mask it is unseen paralyzing, piercing pain
With arrogance and self-assurance camouflaging the shame
Behind the mask is hidden my true Identity.
Seek and survey the signs of my obscurity
Behind the mask is veiled a heart that’s been broken
Held together by unexpressed resentment and animosity unspoken
Behind the mask is where my insecurity hides,
Like realism wrapped in riddles, you must read between the lines
Behind the mask is where I cover my falling tears
Dig just below the surface and you’ll unearth my crippling fears
Behind the mask there are cloaked secrets unexplained and untold
Decipher the symbols to crack my encrypted codes
Behind the mask you’ll uncover my True expressions
Remove and reveal parodies, and expose the false impressions
Behind the mask, it is hidden, my Individuality.
Not acting out some script of who I’m thought to be
Behind the mask is obscured my, vulnerability
Suppressing the mounting manifestation of the inner me
Behind the mask it is disguised, my true reflection
Underneath open wounds inflected by rejection
Behind the mask rest crushed and shattered dream
Where fear muzzles roaring whispers and screeching silent screams
Behind the mask is buried, my stolen youth
Deception, and cover-ups, masquerading as facts and truth
Behind the mask is where I screen the confusion
Look close and you’ll find, trickery and deception, draped in fantasy and optical
illusions
Behind the mask it’s stifling; it is hard for me to breathe,
The walls of deceit that i have built ,are quickly closing in on me.
I am trapped behind facades of smirks and phony smiles.
So may I please remove this mask just for a little while?
Chiquita Baity
It sits back and waits, it lives in your soul.
It slams you and breaks you when you finally feel whole.
It’s been so long since you’ve let it in.
Standing on guard, it just wants to win.
You finally give in the force is to strong.
You remember the time it helped you belong.
Falling so fast, it sucks all your being.
It’s got you again with you not even seeing.
You sit all alone, wonder how you got here.
You remember the pain, the shame and the fear.
You want to put down but its too hard to fight.
You are just days away from turning out the light.
It is growing and growing, it is growling so loud.
By you giving up this demon is proud.
It waited so long to steal you for good.
It pounced on your weakness, it knew that it could.
Now your heart slows, your body shuts down.
It looks from above you and laughs like a clown.
Whether heroin or crack, whether beer or hard liquor.
It runs through your body, you get sicker and sicker.
Your plan did not work, it takes off your mask.
Your soul leaves your body, remembering the past.
How did this happen? This can’t be the end.
You have so much to do and so much to mend.
It is raining outside, there are so many people.
Looking down on the church, you watch from the steeple.
Mom please don’t cry, I did not mean to die
All that I wanted was just one more high.
The casket now closes, I’m scared full of fear.
I can’t believe I caused this, the end now is here.
The pain that I’ve caused, the lives I have ruined.
I put them through this, it’s all of my doing.
My family now throws that final black rose.
The end now is here, this now is my low.
It wasn’t worth this, it was not even fun.
It accomplished what it wanted, addiction has won.
"Poetry is important to the writer but I feel it is all about the reader."
By Poet
Today as I open up my computer what will I see,
a contest looking back at me?
As I read the rules I must decide is this one for me,
or will it haunt me if I turn it away?
No mask needed to read the many rules,
I am only writing when the words flood my creativity.
My ego must sit upon a shelf watching,
but not a word to be whispered or said.
Win or lose I have tried my very best,
not knowing what the judge is looking for.
My purpose is to first write for my readers,
only when they love my writings do I feel I am a winner.
I keep returning to the contest page over and over,
in hopes to learn how to become a better writer.
Poetry is the language of a human poet’s heart,
mind and soul writing away.
The Mask I wear is of a Comedian
Not showing the world I hurt
For when you laugh or cry looks the same
Sarcasm is rooted in pain.
The Mask I wear is of an Introvert
Being lonely than risk not being liked
I keep to myself and try not to falter
Failure is rooted in Rejection.
The Mask I wear is a Social Butterfly
My calendar is packed my life lacks depth
The gift of the gab is for me
My Personality is rooted in Insecurity.
The Mask I wear is of a Perfectionist
Everything running on my watch smoothly
Living in a constant state of something going wrong
My Obsessiveness is rooted in Anxiety.
The Mask that I wear is of a Monk
Showing my calm as if nothing is wrong
Never facing my bottled up emotions
My Composure is rooted in Chaos within me.
Dated 29.8.22
Passing shadows all through the night…
Just memories I couldn’t fight…
What was scribed on moonlit scrolls…
Fades to dust as the hours unfold…
Finding peace in the words I write…
A soul that bleeds through second sight…
My lines make sounds to the eyes that hear…
A sunset pouring over the evening air…
Drifting dreams uncover my past…
Left to breathe behind a poetic mask…
if you could only see
behind that mask
behind the smile that lies
if you could only go
a little deeper to see
behind her eyes
she hides from you
she hides the truth
she hides the evidence
so you have no proof
of her lack of what
you thought was there -
strength and hope
aren't behind
that mask she wears
Beauty incarnate
happiness radiates, tears
silently flowing
(Cinquain Chain)
Feelings
May come and go
Some pretend them so well
Hiding theirs under the thick mask
Most of the time
They wear.
Conflicts
Are born,you hurt
People when you pretend
Love and feelings that you don't feel
Donning a mask
All time.
True self
Is never shown
Some choose not to do so
Believing's not important- Then
Love,kindness just
Gets lost.
Dorian Petersen Potter
aka ladydp2000
copyright@2014
October,31,2014
*Author's note. This one was inspired by some lovely yet sad pics by the artist destinyblue. This was very sad and emotional for me to write. Here's the pics that inspired this. Hope you enjoy the poem.
http://t01.deviantart.net/PT4gysSpsSUExkUce60aKwsl3Ps=/300x200/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre03/49a7/th/pre/i/2012/292/f/4/behind_the_smile_____by_destinyblue-d5ibfov.jpg
http://t06.deviantart.net/OR87RThVOWvGdS2hbtAXGDJeVmI=/300x200/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre02/50ab/th/pre/i/2012/197/4/6/i__m_fine___lineart_by_destinyblue-d4yvarw.jpg
http://destinyblue.deviantart.com/art/Depression-534485738
What do we see when we look at people?
Oft times people say seeing is believing
Yet what they see most is but a mask
A stoic impassive face, seemingly emotionless
A gentle smile that doesn't reach the eyes
A quiet gentle voice saying I'm okay
We oft take these at face value
And believe the lie of the mask
But what would happen I wonder
If we were to dig a little deeper
And watch a little longer
What I have seen too oft
As I've searched a little deeper
Is a lonely heart beneath
The exterior mask they wear
They might be saying "I'm alright"
In a quiet tender voice.
Yet as I've watched them carefully
I've seen a trembling hand.
The mask hides our deepest hurts
And our most bitter memories.
They say on the outside "I'm okay."
When inside they're saying "Save me."
Tis the world that teaches us
To hide behind the mask
Boys are told while very young
“Big boys don’t cry”,
“Crying is weakness”,
Girls are told while still a child
“Crying is manipulative”,
“Don’t cry, they’ll laugh at you”
What we most fear as little ones
Is the mocking jests and jeers
Of the people around us
We learn to keep our tears inside
And say within ourselves in pain
“Maybe tomorrow will be a better day”
Thus we see the sad tale
Of a world filled with people
Being taught to wear
The mask of loneliness
I pray that we may have the eyes to see
Beneath that cheerful mask
And see that lonely soul inside
That needs a friend, a kind word spoken
And that we may have the ears to hear
The painful cries of the soul beneath
When they say the words “I’m fine.”
“Fear whispers worry into your ear, anxiety into your hopes and doubt into your faith… Love whispers hope and peace” – by poet
With a brain washed pale
By voices thundering
Silent screams echoing through me
Clearing away the debris
Of disappointment and disillusionment
My mind darkened on a clear night
No stars twinkled through my thoughts
And the blaze of my heart
Was smothered beneath the darkness
That was like a consuming fire
Shooting flames through my mind
Resonating fear and doubt
Clouding my soul with black suspicion
Breaking away all the hope and faith
Pouring disgust through my veins
Marking the way for desolation
Despair and waves of guilt
That sauntered across my emotions
Coloring me in hues of gray
Bipolar disorder screamed
Beneath a mask of whispers
And I cried – tears of desperation
Tears that flowed out of me
Relentless, unceasingly
And I prayed for peace
That only God could bring to me
Philippians 4:7 (King James Version) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
March 23, 2021
The show was over
The clown face ran out
in an enameled wash bucket
The water became like thin paint
in different colors
The face with a smile
and tears under his eyes were gone
His confidence was washed away
The clown was no ordinary circus artist
He was a poor, lonely and sad old man
And I was a spectator to one
ordinary person behind the mask -
trying to keep life's tragedy at bay
He wiped off the last paint residue
with a worn gray towel
- while tears were burning behind my eyelids
.. the real heroes move in silence
- and never cries
02.03.2020
Sun :) - A-L Andresen :)
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Clown at the Abyss Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
2nd place in the contest
Take off that mask that hides your past it's ok to show the real you
Like everyone else we have made mistakes and are struggling
each day just to make it through
Take a deep breath of air and open up your heart,
if you continue to hide your feelings you'll never get a new start
The truth will surface and show up on your face
so stop hiding in the bushes and get right back in the race
You have to look towards the future and let some things go
Get in tuned with your heart and let your feelings flow
You'll release some pressure and the stress you will relieve
So go on with your life and work towards something to achieve
Never lose sight of who you are, always know your self worth
And know that you have purpose, that's why you were put on this earth
Who actually put you in charge
Of telling others what they should do
In your passive aggressive manner
When others don’t share your view
It’s all light hearted fun you profess
Though that is not the case
It’s about you feeling superior
Putting others in their place
You speak about anti bullying
Which is really quite the joke
As you yourself are a bully
Behind a mask and cloak
You have your band of merry men
Who are of the same mentality
Who come out from the wood work
To form your gang of bullies
You are a wolf in sheeps clothing
If I see it ….I’m sure others do
Just mind your own business
“That is my point of view”!!