The Mask Is Me

I wear this mask of mine.  Do you see it?  It's there plastered on my placid face, a replica of what I really look like. 

 

 It's speaking to you, with lips unmoving; it's communicating to you in a way that I could never grasp, modus operandi that I never learned.  It's watching you, with eyes unblinking; it's experiencing everything with you, slowly replicating your mannerisms so that it's appearance is more believable.  Less likely, for you to figure out that it is an impostor.

 

The mask, is suffocating, it shoves me further inside of myself, hurling me into great abysses, a dark bottomless cell, something that I could never grovel my way out of.

 

 It creates a shell, invisible to the eye but there, just above the skin, with the walls that it puts up.  But I ask, are they walls to keep things out, or barriers to suppress me from within?

 

 The mask examines me, it’s an instrument used to hypnotize my mind whenever I look into its eyes, my eyes. It speaks to me inside my head in an undertone (as if I would believe a word that it said), and convinces me that I would be nothing without it, a fraction of who I really am; that it characterizes me as me. It makes me believe that I couldn’t survive if it wasn’t there to cover everything up. And I do believe, even though I know I’m being conned and that it silently mocks me. 

 

The mask, I can tell that it’s doing it, implanting thoughts into my mind, disturbing my inner self, the only thing that I have left. The mask tells me that we are friends, that I would never be able to live without it, that it is holding me back because it doesn’t know what I would do if it didn’t. It tells me that I've done horrible things, that it is a gift given to me, that I should be thankful. But how can I be? The mask cuts me off from everything that I've ever wanted; it give me nothing and takes everything away.

I cannot move one muscle because the mask is my puppeteer and it won’t let me.  It restrict every action I try to make, and every free thought that I have.  It tells me that we are one, two things that can never be parted.  It tells me that it's actions are mine.

 

Is it so hard for my friends to see this mask, see that I'm not me any longer, but an artificial creature?  Or are they just blinded by the mask that they wear?

 

 

 

Author's Note

I think that I should explain a few things about this... It's taken me a very long time to write this, and I don't understand why. I had this idea months ago, about a mask, but I could never put it to words. As silly as it may sound, I think it was just my state of mind and how I was trying to preceive things to the reader. Anyways, some feedback would be much appreciated... Insight? Oh and your opinion on the formating? Please and thank you!!

And I thought that not many people would know what 'modus operandi' meant, so here's the definition...
modus operandi-a method, or way of doing something

Reviews

[Lorraine]

I'm not really very knowledgeable of prose poetry since I usually try to avoid them. But from what I see in here, the formatting isn't really so bad. I guess it's actually better than cutting this into stanzas. I find this piece very reflective and deep.

Keep Writing. ^___^

[The Perfectionist]

You don't need a comma after 'less likely'. Actually, you don't need most of these commas.

This is something that a lot of us find ourselves dealing with, but I've never seen it described in such detail or so eloquently. You should be very proud of that.

That being said, your presentation is bizarre. Sometimes the bold works, but most of the time you seem to be bolding too much or something unimportant. Changing emphasis only works when it's rare, not when it's every second line. The back and forth from left-to-right justified is odd too, but I can live with that one.

Your ending is also very odd. Why does it exist? The second-last paragraph ends it much better than the single sentence that follows; it hardly seems to be part of the rest of the poem at all.

Food for thought.

[ebur™]

This was a really good piece that I though you described every piece, every line perfectly. The whole piece is so relatable, I think many people can understand this and take something from it, I love it when there are pieces like that. Also, I liked how you bolded some of the words, it really added emphasis and kept it interesting as I was reading. Great job overall 100% :)

[LisetteCanWrite!]

Bravo.. brilliantly portrayed.. I felt this was like a short play painted in such realistic hues.. and truly everyone does have a mask. Loved the depths.. the rhythm of darkness and despair that run through it! Anyone who says they do not have a mask would be lying.. those are the true ones to watch out for.. as they remain so far hidden they have forgotten they even display one... it is there for many purposes.. the only thing no one can truly know is what totally lies behind the mask.. the measure of good and evil within all.. as with being human we all have those tendancies but in differing measures. Loved your ponderance:

The mask examines me, it's an instrument used to hypnotize my mind whenever I look into its eyes. It speaks to me inside my head in an undertone (as if I would believe a word that it said), and convinces me that I would be nothing without it, a fraction of who I really am; that it characterizes me as me. Makes me believe that I couldn't survive if it wasn't there to cover everything up. And I do believe, even though I know I'm being conned and that it silently mocks me.

I have to say though.. this would be done in too much idle time.. we all assess ourselves from time to time.. quite natural... everything here does set one to think deeply.. do we need our masks.. I believe we really do.. it shields us from those who do not intend good.. when displaying warmth it feeds fire to other hearts while smiling.. that mask can do much good if used correctly! All ways though .. it is human to have a mask! Thank you so much for sharing.. very, very powerful words in written format from one so young! =)

[f**k you]

LOVED this! Wow this is really deep, very emotional and good flow. I can very very much relate to this.
"Is it so hard for my friends to see this mask, see that I'm not really me any longer but an artificial creature? Or are they just blinded by the mask that they wear?"
That line really got me, I can understand that situation...
awesome write. this helped me.
-nicole was here-

[Marlena]

I love the formatting, and this poem. Actually, what I was thinking about when I read this was Spiderman. I think it's the last one with Venom- that alien symbiote that takes over Peter and then the guy that actually becomes Venom. It makes them act different, and no one can see it on them.

I love the concept you had behind this though, this was a wonderful piece, amazing write. Keep up the good work! :)

[Sseoni]

Whoa! That was such a great poem! It was beautifully written, greatly detailed, and seemed to be full of emotions! I really liked this because it seems very real! It seems like a lot of people have masks of their own, and are trying to break free of their emotionless masks that want to take over. Great poem! I really enjoyed reading it!