Behind the face I wear that’s Greek
Is a mask that no one would seek.
Unlike the hyperbolic smile
Extending like a plaster Nile,
A frown is carved into my soul,
And it thinks my façade is droll.
Discouraged none would e’er me deem,
But I am scarcely as I seem.
How often do I yearn to ask,
“Can’t you see behind my fell mask?!”
But this contoured veil of bleached white
Seems to deceive ev’ryone’s sight.
And I continue trapped below,
Because I cannot let them know
How depressed I am, day and night,
How young, how frail, how full of fright.
How this light burden weighs me down
And makes me ever play the clown!
Tattoos are painful to take off;
This mask’s far harder donned to doff.