Invisible Mask

"Society is a masked ball, where everyone hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding”

I remember one summer morning my mummy woke me up
With her soft voice she said "sweetheart I love you so very much"
We walked to the park, we talked and we laughed and then
we sat on a bench so my mummy could have a small rest

My mummy pointed and said "look at that woman sitting on that bench,
"she is wearing a mask to cover up the lies, putting on a smile to fight the turmoil inside"
I looked at the woman and slightly tilted my head, straining my eyes
to see, a mask which was invisible to me
I tried and I tried to understand what she meant
but my little head was hurting, I really just wanted to play instead
so I nodded like I knew and simply said "Oh I see mummy, that mask on the lady's head"
My mummy just stared at me with a look I had never quite seen
Her eyes bleak, her expression motionless. It startled me.
Go, run along, I suddenly heard her say with that sing song voice
she managed to project without fail every single day
As I ran towards the swings I felt an emotion cold and unknown
at the time I thought it was excitement but little did I know

Later on that night my mummy tucked me into my bed
she read me my favourite story and when finished, kissed me upon the head
she stopped at the doorway, turned off the light, lingered a while and said goodnight
Before I shut my eyes, that unknown feeling shot straight through my spine
I awoke the next morning with panic in my heart
I wanted to see my mummy's face so I ran down the hall with a speedy pace
I knocked on her door but too impatient to wait, I opened it up wide
the bed was empty, as I looked around, my mummy was nowhere insight
I told myself she was out shopping so I curled up in her bed
I waited, waited and waited but she still wasn't back yet
Scanning the room something suddenly caught my eye, it was a note
she had left it on the side, I picked it up and slowly read the words
"forgive me sweetheart, I am leaving, goodbye"

When my daddy came home I showed him the note and I witnessed him
crumble and suffer, saw the tears stream down his face, he didn't have a mask in place
I walked to my room, I sat on my bed and shed one single tear
It was from that moment on that I realised; "you must always have an invisible mask in gear"

Author's Note

This poem isn't meant to be a lesson, it merely reflects the loss of naivety and how people come to acquire the habit of putting on an invisible mask.