“Put off your mask,” she says.
I tell her, “I’m not wearing one.”
“That is the best disguise.”
In this city, when people are unmasked
you see the false face behind the false face.
I tell her, “I’m not wearing one.”
“That is the best disguise.”
In this city, when people are unmasked
you see the false face behind the false face.
I do not speak of magicians.
They put on masks to step into
the energy of an old god or a wild shaman,
a force of chaos, of disease or whirlwind,
and must then master that power
to bend it to their purpose. If they fail
or wear the mask too long, it becomes poison.
Don’t wear any mask for too long
or you may find you have no face left
except the one molded by the role you played
or you can’t find yourself in a mirror
because you have become a ghost of the living.
- Mosswood Hollow, July 12, 2018
I really like the images here pointing to the recovery of the authentic self.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded too of the allure of say, the Venice Carnevale , where the exquisite
beauty and sophistication of the masks is perhaps a symbol of the intricate
'traps' we can create to play the games of evasion. Thanks once again, Robert, for the 'beat'
of the shamanic drum.