Thursday, January 22, 2009

Please Hear What I Am Not Saying

Don’t be fooled by ma
Don’t be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a mask
I wear a thousand masks
Masks I am afraid to take off
And none of them is ME

Pretending is an art that’s second nature with me.
But don’t be fooled for God’s sake,
Don’t be fooled.
I give you the impression that I am secure
That all is sunny and unruffled with me
Within, as well as without,
That confidence is my name and coolness my game
That the water is calm
And I’m in command
And I need no one.

Don’t be fooled by me. Please!

I dislike hidding, honestly
I dislike the superficial game I’m playing
The superficial phony game.
I’d really like to be genuine and spontaneous and ME
But I need your help, your hand to hold
Even though my mask would tell you otherwise.

It will not be easy for you
Long-felt inadequacies
May make my defence strong.
The nearer you approach me
The blinder I may strike back.
Despite of what books say of men,
I am irrational
I fight against the very things
I cry out for.

You wonder who I am?
You should’t
For I am Everyman
And Everywoman
Who wears a mask.

Don’t be fooled by me.
At least not by the face I wear.