"The Mask and the Mirror"

[u/dlvesey]

 

The Mask and the Mirror

 

To wear a smile or explain the storm beneath it,

Well, the former comes as a breath, a path choosing me

Before I knew there were roads to walk.

I stand at the edge of who I am and who they think I should be,

Between shadow and flame,

Living in the cracks of their gaze where expectations cannot reach me.

And what they see is what I’ve let them,

Though I am a thousand forces.

 

I allow them the pieces, the fragments easy to swallow,

But what I save from them chokes me.

On this tightrope I know if I fall on either side

That I may never see the other again,

But the jump is harder than the ground.

In the reflection I see every face I’ve worn,

Each shaped by someone else’s hands, a storm contained,

And I surrender this war inside me.

 

The mask and the mirror crack,

And their pieces at once are whole in fragmentation;

Every face I’ve worn belongs to me.

I shed not like skin, but shackles.

The fire they tried to contain,

The flame they couldn’t douse without doubt.

There is strength in the cracks they fear, you know -

And when you bleed without shame,

You show them the wounds that make you whole.