Sunday, April 26, 2020

“Beneath the Masks” by Sara Aharon



Beneath the Masks
Masks
First invented
For rituals
Symbols
Identifiers.
Then masks
Formed personas
Characters
In theatre.
In the theatre of life
Masks keep
something hidden
In-visible
In-cognito
Covering our
True selves.

I (whatever that means)
Think
We all hide behind
A mask of
Our unconscious
creation.
Some wear a mask of
Smiley faces
To block a well of tears
Others wear
Hugs and kisses
To cover ice.

And there are masks
That can’t hide
Only distort
Trying to fool
but fail.
Masks of
chosen personas
Let the real ones relax
Safely
Tucked in -
the shadows.


Masks
We wear them now
In different colours,
Shapes
Fabrics, patterns
Beneath the
N-95’s
Is only ME
And I can’t wait
For ME
To meet
YOU
Again.

For now,
In the play called
Pandemic
I seek a new mask
After spending years
Peeling the old.
I think I’ll order
the polka-dot or
leopard one.


Sara Aharon lives in Toronto. She is the proud mother of two adult daughters. These days she makes her living as a virtual psychologist, and since she has more time on her hands, she writes about plagues (and other things).


See Brian Henry’s schedule hereincluding writing workshops, weekly online writing classes, and weekend retreats in, Alliston, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Southampton, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond. 

2 comments:

  1. INCREDIBLY powerful and moving. It really hit home with me. I have shared this on my Facebook page - this is the kind of poem that should be put to video and voiced, and should go viral.

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  2. Thank you Tya. Your wonderful feedback made my day. And Brian chose such great images for it.

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