The Library of Poetry
Screaming in Silence

by Alexial DeTeersa

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Nostalgia | A Thousand Thousand Eyes | And If I Die Before I Wake... | Angel Tears | Screaming in Silence | Smooth Lies | What is Hope? | Falling Into Nothing | Twilight's Harmony | Untitled | Tuesday, September 11th, 2001 | Heartbeat | Messiah

I have a thousand masks.
I wear them as I would my face, but it is not me.
Calm, demure, a woman of the world.
They are but masks.
You smile and turn to me.
"Are you all right?" you ask.
And I merely smile.
I am fine.
I am not hurting.
I am not in pain.
This is what my mask says.
The lies tumble from my lips like raindrops.
Easy, slippery, too quick to catch.
You turn away,
Oblivious to my hurt; my pain.
I cry out, yet I make not a sound.
Tears fall, and yet do not.
My soul is ripped apart,
All because of my masks.
I cannot remove them,
For if I do, you will see my soul.
What then?
I close inside myself,
And let my masks tell the world
I am fine.
I am not hurting.
I am not in pain.
But my soul betrays me.
Inside myself, I weep, I beg, I cry.
I let my emotions show.
But the strangest thing...
When I am happiest,
My masks are all you see.
I know this happiness will not last.
It is as dead as the leaves blowing on a cold wind,
Colder than my soul.
The wind brushes my cheeks,
And my mask slips.
You see the tears.
You see the hurt.
You see the pain.
And you turn away.
My tears fall like soft raindrops,
Yet full of longing.
Full of dreams.
Full of hope.
And yet there is none.
You turn to me again, and I smile.
I am fine.
I am not hurting.
I am not in pain.


I had read another poem about masks, and this is rather my version of it. When I first put it up in the Library of Poetry, it was titled "The Masks I Wear", but I think "Screaming in Silence" is more fitting.