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My voice is muffled by

                             the mask

                  I wear

          over my face

I wear a mask 364 days

                                  a year

so on Halloween

               I believe

                       I’ll go out

                  as myself

I prepare to unmask

My hands glide over

                    the camouflage

                hiding my face

                              and my soul

I reach for the seams

                    and try to

                       pull it off

I smile as I think

                  of the great joke

                          I’ll be pulling

“Who are you supposed to be?”

             Myself!

I wonder if they’ll understand

              or if they

                   even notice

              the masks

          on their faces

This Halloween will be crazy

                     as the mask slowly

                 off my face

              and my sunglasses

                      are removed

Now the sunlight can shine

              in my eyes

          and reflect my soul

               like a mirror

I am free for a day

               but no one

                    really knows it

They’re putting on

                 another mask over

              top of the one

                  they’re already wearing

Their souls remain hidden

                  and my eyes

                       can’t make

              the incision

                 into their hearts

but I do not fret

               I throw mask

                        in the air

       and dance in the streets

                   for I am free

Free for that one precious night

I laugh at the thought

                  of everyone else’s notions

they probably think that

             I’m wearing a mask

                   or being someone else

They look at me and say,

               “Great costume”

           Or “Who you supposed to be?”

I just smile faintly but contentedly

              and feeling the need

                     to tell them

            something they probably

                   wouldn’t believe

But as the night wears on

           and the time ticks away

I just go back to enjoying

              my one lone day

                 I go unmasked

                       as myself

April 11, 1986