The Mask

My students won't stop wearing masks and I want to see their faces.

In the classroom, faces hidden.

Thoughts flooding, all misgiven.

Wanting to see what lay behind.

Fleeting glimpses, all I have seen.

Those fleeting glimpses, what could they mean?

For that which lays behind.

What are they hiding? What can't they show?

What is behind there that only they know?

I want to know what lays behind.

But why? I cannot tell.

What draws me to it like a spell? 

To know what lays behind.

It cannot be forced, sad as it may be.

They must have the choice and be free

to show what lay behind.

And for that I shall wait and keep my mind.