Masks
The Human Mask - OCTOBER WINNER!
Twisting, changing, morphing, growing, evolving, mutating, living, dying.
This is the nature of the human mask.
The human mask is the mask we all wear, the mask we use to hide our true selves from the outside world or hide the outside world from our true selves.
It is the mask that has been used for centuries and will be used till the end of time.
Every human wears this mask, this fluctuating, inconsistent, erratic mask. It changes all the time, depending on where we are, who we are with, how old we are.
It is not a real mask, no-- it is an accumulation of different bits and pieces of us, the true us, the real us.
It’s the bits and pieces we are willing to show to the world, the ones we aren’t afraid to lose.
It's the wall that separates us from the world, and it's what everyone else sees.
When people see the mask, they assume that the mask is the true person, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Every human assumes they are the only ones to wear the mask, but in reality, everyone wears it.
It's only after years of trust that we can see beneath it and, sometimes, what we see shocks us.
Forever Masked - by Taylor Jones (Runner Up)
When I gasped for my last breath, I suffocated- submerged by the water that used to carry me oh so gently.
Those waves singing a lullaby, had turned to a tsunami of anger, hatred and disgust.
But my last breath never let go and now everywhere I go I feel it scratching my throat until my words mean nothing.
It's as if it's trying to break free from this mask that needs a key, but like me it's lost at sea.
For years I’ve dreamt of breathing again, rising from the depths of evil that had ultimately been my downfall.
So when I look up at the world inside of this abyss, I see a distorted image of what once was.
Words turned to lies, late night cries, waiting to say goodbye, yet in the morning we all say “I’m fine.”
Our entire lives, we’ve worn this disguise.
Yet it’s when I surface, everyone sees we’ve been forever masked.
Mask
We use them all the time
But for what
To hide emotions?
Or our true selves?
So many things we can hide
But when the mask comes off
And our true selves reveal
Is it really for the better?
Sometimes
But more than most it’s for the worse
Mask
I Wish… by Evelyn Reid
I wish I was ready
To accept and to hold
The truth that I hide
The truth that’s untold
I wish I was ready
To go out and be free
But how can I do that
When it’s all new to me?
I wish I was ready
To push out and be me
But I don’t know who that is
Or where they may be
I wish I was ready
I wish it was time
I wish I knew
What was really inside
But I didn’t
Didn’t know
Didn’t know how
Didn’t know where
Didn’t know that now
That now is the time
The time to be free
Except...
I just don’t think that’s me
So I’ll do what I’m told
And be what’s expected
Until I am forced
Out into the open
I’ll be who you want
And do what you need
But underneath?
Underneath…
I wish I knew how to be me
Behind the Mask
The smile on my face
The wave I give in the hallway
It’s a mask
When I laugh about a joke
When I am there to comfort others
It’s a mask
To cover-up
Not be seen
Undiscovered
Never heard of
It’s a mask
Laying in bed, restless
Mind wondering
Eyes of tears
It’s no longer a mask
No longer surrounded
No need to be strong
No need to worry about others
It’s no longer a mask
Other’s see the mask and think I am strong, kind, caring, funny
Behind the mask, I am scared, worried, sad, unheard
The smile of my mask is what I want the world to see
Virtual by Evelyn Reid
Hello, my friend
It's been awhile
Your face has changed again
Now it's a bird
Instead of a car
Maybe if you'd click the camera?
No?
Fine, I'll only know your avatar
We'll talk without our voices
Using the chat
Were you joking?
Serious?
I can't tell
Maybe if you'd click the mic?
No?
Oh well...
Masks by Brianna Rodriguez
We all have these so-called masks that we wear, you may be thinking that's not me I'm an open book. Well, I think you know you're not, the masks we wear aren't necessarily like a facemask or a Halloween mask, they're our faces.
Why are they our faces? They're our faces because we all have something going on in our home lives whether it's something mentally or physically we have our mask which in this case is the fake smile which you hold on your face, that you wish could be so easily taken away but it doesn't work like that because you and only you are in charge of that mask.
The point that I'm trying to make here is to keep going, I'm not going to say that it gets better because I'd be lying to you, it has to get worse to get better. So you make that choice, you choose whether you want to put away that mask for good or if you want to give it more uses and let it control you. You decide because no one will do it for you.