Masked Poem by Tsunami HiroshiSu

Mask your face
Hide from the world
Dance in the darkness
They don't know you
They can't see you
Just a smiling unknown face
A mask to hide yourself

Try on a new identity
A new name
A new face
A mask to hide behind
Slip into another's life
Then all at once you are gone
And a stranger stands in your place

Here we stand
But where are you?
Who am I?
Just a mask in the sea of masked faces
Sequins and feathers
Plastic smiles and paper mache
Painted expressionless
Black and white
Hidden in plain sight

I look for your eyes
The only things not covered
But even here
Mascara and glitter

Where are you?
I rip off a mask
She explodes into dust
I pull off another
And he falls away in a shower of glitter
Must I unmask an entire crowd
Just to find you?
Just to know me?

Masquerade
Where are our identities?
We left them at the door with our hats and cloaks
All we are now are
Masks
Sequins and feathers