The Mask | ©Terry Haslett
I wear a mask when I go outside
It’s so much easier for me to hide
It is not a mask that you can see
But it’s still there and protects me
The mask I wear is a simple smile
It hides my pain for a little while
I hope to spare you from the truth
I cannot share when there is no proof
I cannot show you my pain you see
It is deep inside of me
It is right through me to my core
It is what makes me feel bloody and raw
I try to describe the pain I am in
Like broken bones or stabbed by a pin
A constant nagging like a tooth ache
Just so you can understand and relate
All I get is a blank stare
Or feeble attempts like saying there there
I know you try to understand
While your patting the back of my hand
And so to save you embarrassment
I wear a mask with grim intent
It helps us both that is true
When we meet and I smile at you
You will make polite small talk
And on finishing away you walk
Not ever realising how I really feel
With my painted smile that isn’t real
One day the truth can be told
Proof will be found like buried gold
It will mean so much to me
No more mask just what you see
©Terry Haslett Check out FibroLight on Facebook here.
Very well written and so very very true. Thank for sharing this with everyone I wish it could be on a big billboard for all to see, as people need to know how we feel.
Pleasure, Karen. For more of Terry’s poems, visit the “Fibro Light” Facebook page. So glad you enjoyed. Gentle hug ♥ x
It’s so hard to share fibromyalgia with friends and family, they always look baffled when you try to explain symptoms, after all how can someone look so well yet feel so bad!
I came across this by accident, I guess you are a sufferer as well. As every word of this poem is so true. Take care Terry.