We Wear the Mask

I like this poem, because it talks about the masks we all figuratively wear to hid our true feelings and thoughts.  I often feel with Fibromyalgia that I must wear a mask, but I am trying to be more open about my feelings and stop worrying about what other people think.

We Wear the Mask

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

    We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

    We wear the mask!