My Existence

Masks.

Something we all wear.

They make us feel safe.

But they also
make us feel
other than ourselves.

We take them up
and don them
willfully
instinctually
and yet
we long to take them off
to expose ourselves
for who we really are
to the rest of the world
and perhaps also to ourselves.

But are the masks necessary?

Do we wear them
for a good
and positive
reason?

Is this yet another case
of being careful
what we wish for
when we wish
for a world
where we can live
without masks?

For the last few years
I have been pealing away
layer after layer
of the masks I wear
most of which
I didn't even know existed.

And I didn't really like
what I was left with.

With my mask
went my motivation
to maintain
self esteem
self respect
standards.

It has only been recently
that I have come
to appreciate
the masks
as a means
to smile
and to brighten the days of others
and to work hard
when I would otherwise
have no reason
and would aim
merely for the lowest standard
which is some kind of instinct
and is on some level who I must be
but it just feels so wrong
so bad
so depressing
that I need
to break it's hold
and to put my mask back on
and respect my mask
not as something that I hide behind
but as something
that is formed from my own face
my own heart
my own mind
my own soul
and which reflects me
and which maintains me
and which stops me
from sinking
deeper and deeper
into the doldrums
of the non-existence
of my existence.