To work up a smile.

We Wear the Mask (by Paul Laurence Dunbar)

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

I bet a lot of you can be able to relate to the poem above. Many of us have had stories we just didn't want to share, right? You've probably had things you'd rather just not talk about. So maybe you tend to hide your feelings, keeping them to yourself. Some people like the idea of anonymity more than familiarity. Then again, others don't. Believe it or not, your words are important.

When you're having one of those "bad days", do you mope around or fake a smile, covering up the truth? Should you lie to others, let alone yourself, or turn to a friend who might happen to be able to cheer you up? With your feelings, I think it's best not to fool others with a mask they might be able to see through it if it's transparent. Come out from under that heavy rock and stop hiding beneath it. Maybe your "mask" was meant to be noticed.


This gets me every time,
-my.great.ESCAPE.