Masquerade

Why do I always feel
like everything I live for
everything I believe in
is a sham?
Why do I always feel
like a fake?
A hypocrite?
What is it I'm doing?
...
A fake smile
a mask
covers my face
hiding my true feelings
from the world
why do I wear this mask?
Am I afraid to let them see
the deeper part of me?
...
I speak out
on things I believe are right
but what is right?
And what is wrong?
Is it all just an act?
Is it all just a joke on humanity?
Or are we all in our own masquerade?
...
Each of us
with a mask
covering our true selves
our true feelings
glazed over eyes
pretending to care
but not really
...
Painted lips
smooth as honey
yet dripping with slime
bodies draped in satin
beautiful on the outside
yet underneath
a decaying corpse
I don't want this
....
Let me go!
Please!
Someone set me free!
...
Their glazed eyes
sweep over me
producing terror in my mind
their painted lips
whisper lies in my ears
I clutch at my head
their bodies draped in satin
dance around me
enveloping me
imprisoning me in a gilt cage
...
No!
I'm not like you!
Painted faces
swirl around me
mocking me
judging me
wearing me down
...
I sink into a pool
of performance
this play is my life
their glazed eyes
the windows to my soul
closed
their painted lips
the door to my mind
shut
their bodies draped in satin
the figure that holds my heart
concealed
...
My soul
my mind
my heart
clouded in a mist
of distortion
and I become the fake
I didn't believe
I was capable of becoming
...
A hypocrite
my life a sham
my mind brainwashed
tears trickle down my painted face
as I realize
how much the meaning ways
because I am part of it
...
Beguiled
I whisper to the naive
leading them into a chaos
of excellent performance
and I watch impassively
as their souls
minds
hearts
are clouded in the mist
of distortion
like mine once was
...
White lies
turn to gray
gray lies turn to black
black lies turn into an impenetrable
turmoil of trickery
...
We dance
around and around
in our filthiness
grinning
mocking
judging
...
Oh I fear
for the poor soul
that wanders into our midst
of deception and hypocrisy
for we will be the downfall
of that soul