Image again....

Some nights it is just whatever I’ve heard roaming in my mind in the ten minutes I get to sit and write a poem. I heard an old interview with Daniel Radcliff about how last Halloween he roamed around New York with an Elvis mask on and how wonderful that was for him to do that. There is a Harry Potter mask hanging up on the wall of my office that I love---it is from Italy. It is the only non-carnival-like mask that is on my wall and it got me to thinking.

If Elvis Could Have Taken a Walk

I am drawn to masks

I’ve heard that they are a bad thing

To hide behind something you are not

What if the mask is more comfortable than being unmasked?

What if it is you, the protection you seek

Or the anonymity that isn’t yours because

Everyone seems to know your business even before you do?

To walk around with something beautiful you construct

That distracts from what is raw and healing

Blemishes ripped away by your own hands

And to cover, you pick up your mask

As to not frighten those you meet

Especially people you’ve just now met

And want to get to know better

You can walk around with your mask on

Being who you want to be

Or a character you have always admired

A mask so adorned with jewels and pearlesque paint

Feathers floating around eyes that do not lie

Eyes that see out and no one breaks in

Except to guess what is behind

Those interactive, enticing eyes

When you arrive back at solitude

The mask comes off and is hung

On the wall for you to study

Each line, jewel, and fantastic feather

How to match what is underneath

With this beautiful portrait

That gives you total freedom

To truly be who you are