The Mask

You didn’t have to wear the mask with me, you know

I would have accepted you

With every flaw

And loved you the more for them

I’ve endured more darts than you could ever throw

And for the life of me

I don’t know why

You’d choose to be the enemy

Maybe you’ve been left so bitter from the chance you let slip by

You can’t remember

What it’s like

To love and let love go

Or believe there could be anyone who’d let you have your place

Inside the heart

Of someone who

You’d never have to lose

I understand the cause of all these games you choose to play

The self-deception

And mistrust

You’ve been so eager to hold dear

I’ll never take your mask from you, you know

Just hold my tongue

Instead recall

That deep inside it kills you

That I’m here

Runaway

I’m not your fragile flower

Not the delicate creation

You had so hoped I would become

I’ll never be the glass-winged butterfly

You take down from your shelf

To show the world how beautifully

You’d helped to forge my wings

From ice and fire

I’ve chosen not to let you mold me

Leaping from your potter’s wheel

Clay dripping from my skin

I’ll find my own way home

Not by the path you’d force me down

But through the woods and past the stream

While feeling every breath

Without your blessing

I’ll never trip over the roots

Though you’d cautioned me

They’d reach out for my feet

And I won’t drown within the waters

As they whirl and twist and sway

I won’t be frozen by the snowfall

Or captured in the talons

Of a darkly feathered bird

I won’t fall out of the trees I climb

And if I do, I’ll land in buoyant grass

Then rest until I want to catch my breath

I won’t be frightened by the clouds

Or fear I may be watched by hidden eyes

Indentured by a timeworn deity

I never chose to know

And never wanted to indulge

I have escaped from every nightmare

Every make-believe constraint

You’d have me fear for all my life

My field has daffodils and roses

Fern grows wild from every tree

And ivy covers every stone I place

Upon this wall I’ve built

With all my truth

I’ve discovered every grace

You never wanted me to know

Because you couldn’t understand their voice

I’ll sing out loud and dance inside the rain

Be the fairy in the garden

Beside the swing that shared my childhood

And listen to the wind

Only the wind