Masks

Masks
after 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.

We wear the mask that guards and saves
Our lives and loved ones from the graves
that multiply now round the earth;
These masks acknowledge death, rebirth,
and world-transforming catastrophe.

“Why should the world be born anew –
If millions die, that's what we do!”
say some who shun the masks, but choose
to fix their eyes hard at the news –
The masks of normalized cruelty.

This grotesque theater that we stage
each morning we suppress our rage
and heartbreak for our broken lives –
This act is how the flesh survives –
But daily crushes the spirit.

To wear the face mask is to say
“I recognize this harsh new day
And will no longer live in fear
Of change.” The time is drawing near
When empires fall and evaporate.

O Comrades, let us rend the veil,
that truth and justice may prevail,
Remove the masks that til this hour
Have kept us bowed to those in power;
The masks that make our faces theirs –
That twist our mouths and choke our prayers –
Must be replaced by flags of love
Declaring Enough is enough!
Until all faces radiate.