He Wears a Mask | Teen Ink

He Wears a Mask

November 20, 2019
By Onik_Siddique BRONZE, Bronx, New York
Onik_Siddique BRONZE, Bronx, New York
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

He wears a mask

That boy over there.

He wears a mask 

With true emotions very rare


He’s in his personal hell,

With no hope in his eyes.

But can you even tell?

His silent, subtle cries?


He has nothing to wake up to

No reason to care.

No emotion is ever true

Is God even there?


The boy used to pray

That maybe one day

Luck would come his way.


He wears a mask

Never leaves without it.

He wears a mask 

And I’ll tell you all about it.


The mask was first put on,

Out of the boy’s fear. 

Wondering what would happen,

If his image became clear.


What would they do? 

What would they say?

If they only knew the truth,

Oh what a price he would have to pay!         


The taunts, the jeers, why can’t they just go away?

The abuse, the neglect, it’s like it’s on replay.

That’s all the boy knew, growing up,

The mask became his pain’s coverup.


Mental pain becoming too much to handle,

The boy resorted to something else.

Something considered a scandal.


With tears in his eyes

And a blade in his palm,

Quick couple strokes

He stood there as still as a bomb. 


That was all history

But the past still haunts the boy.

And while it may no longer be a mystery,

The mask is not yet seen as a toy. 


He still wears a mask,

However, his face is starting to show.

He still wears a mask,

But is slowly letting go.


The author's comments:

The mask in this poem symbolizes all the strategies we use to hide our true feelings to conform to societal expectations. The protagonist of this piece, a boy, wonders what would happen if he went into the world without a mask and with his true feelings showing. The mask is also a necessary protection that stems out of fear. Slowly but steadily the mask is eroding and the boy's true face is starting to become apparent... 


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