I don’t wear makeup, it’s true.

I won’t cover my face with goo.

It feels weird, and is such a task,

but all the same, I wear a mask.

What I hide behind it is not my face.

Nay, ‘tis my soul, that hidden place.

Underneath, where none can see,

I’ve hidden the real, true me.

Beneath this confident façade

lies a child, scared and afraid;

yet full of wonder, which does leak out

and makes me want to sing and shout.

The world, though scary, is amazing too

Just look around; you’ll see it’s true.

So many things lay there covered,

simply waiting to be discovered.

I want to see, to hear, to touch,

and not be afraid it is too much

to sing, to dance, to fly free;

oh, how wonderful that would be!

But people are watching closely

waiting for a slip up from me,

to pounce, to yell, to show the world

all the mistakes of this little girl.

So I don this mask of stone,

the only face many have known.

And I go through the paces of life,

wanting an end to all this strife.

Someday, I will be brave enough,

to stand there, though life is rough;

and cast down my mask, and watch it break,

never more my life to fake.