Masks

Oh, to stand upon the stage
With true versatility,
Not to be determined by
The very masks you see.

I hide myself from everyone,
Each and all, including me.
No confidence in self I have
To be the one who I can be.

Consumed with mortal terror,
Loathing self I seek to hide.
As a corpse decaying,
I’ve never lived, but only died.

My masks, there are so many,
Obscuring myself, I seek to hide.
Yet, as I sit, I realize,
I have both revealed the truth and lied.

Oh, to be something that I fear I’m not,
And to believe that I’m alive.
To allow myself to be human,
To embrace myself and thrive.

The masks which I don daily,
They conceal my honest core.
I have cheated self and others,
There surely must be more.

I must be courageous,
Give up that which enshrouds.
To live life as intended.
Despite fear of self and crowds.

I ask myself who I fear the most,
And, it’s quite simply, only me.
So, I’ve only starved and stymied,
Who and what I’ve hoped could be.

Do I dare discard charades,
That have hidden what is real?
To miss the truth, it takes not a thief,
But, it is myself from self I steal.

The time has come to make a change,
For a vastly different kind of doing.
No more hiding, no more stealing,
No more self-condemning booing.

Bottom-line, it’s up to me alone,
To remove the masks and truly be.
Not veil, not mask, no masquerade,
But, the genuine, created me.

Embracing who God crafted;
That which robs, I must let go.
Discovering what is truly real,
So, I can in liberation grow.

No longer hiding behind masks,
The masks, I too long wore.
I choose to risk and choose to live,
From my God-created core.

No more masquerading,
Because I am less afraid.
God, please direct this fragile child
Who was with fear and wonder made.

Richard L. Brewer