Behind the Mask

 If you could see me,

you'd run, screaming,
alarmed, terrfied.
Surely you'd cross yourself,
toss salt over your shoulder,
do anything to avoid the curse,
to distance yourself from me.
So I hide. I hide in food
like a child, covering his own face
and assuming invisibility.
I hide in people pleasing
to act as if I were finished, polished, real...
I hide in silence, knowing you can't judge
words I don't speak. I hide in ferocity
making myself unloveable so I can believe
I'll never be loved. I hide in monotony,
not doing the things that would lighten my load.
I stand here in my mask, eager,
hoping you won't jerk it away,
toss it beyond the moon.