Poem: The Mask

Mask

This mask I wear

is a burden I bear

The pain is leaden;

dragging me to the ground

I smile through it;

don’t make a sound

This mask I wear

is my despair

You demand my silence;

With the guilt and shame.

I made the mask for you;

For you I play this game.

This mask is me;

All you can see

This is a poem I wrote about the mask I wore to get through work every day. A facade I used to mask the pain I was in from customers and co-workers and to get the job done. At the same time I faced a lot of stigma there and I wore a that mask to hide the suffering I was enduring because they were incapable of compromise but loved to play the ‘you should feel guilty for being ill’ game.