We Wear the Mask
Paul Laurence Dunbar
1872 to 1906
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We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!