Title: The Masks You Wear Poem by ashok jadhav

(The speaker faces the unseen deceiver or a silent audience, voice tense, edged with controlled fury.)
Monologue:
You smile, and everyone believes it.
You speak, and your words are taken as truth.
You walk among us as if your hands are clean,
as if the world owes you trust.
But I see the cracks.
I see the rot you try to hide beneath charm and eloquence.
You preach honesty while bending it to your will.
You speak of justice while stepping over the broken.
You call loyalty a virtue
while betraying it at every convenient turn.
And we… we nod and pretend we don't notice,
because noticing is uncomfortable,
because the truth is inconvenient.
(Pauses, voice rising, sharp.)
I cannot pretend.
I will not pretend.
You are a lie that walks on two legs.
A story everyone believes until someone dares to read between the lines.
I have read.
I have seen.
And I will speak.
(Voice softens, cold and deliberate.)
The truth will reach ears you thought were deaf.
The mask you wear will crack under the weight of revelation.
And when it does…
perhaps then you will understand
that deceit may thrive in shadow,
but it cannot survive in light.
(The speaker steps back, eyes unwavering, letting the accusation hang in the air.)