I hide my face  

I hide my emotions  

I introduce everyone I meet to a shadow   

A shadow that is not me  

A shadow that hides who I am  

A shadow that conceals my pain  

My mask is my face, but it veils my identity  

It does not show who I am 

It resembles me  

It looks like me; it talks like me  

But it’s only a mask  

It does not shield me from others’ ridicule  

It does not guard me from their torment  

It’s not there to protect me  

It is there to shelter them from me  

It protects them from my faults  

I care for them more than I should  

I help them through their turmoil and tribulations  

But I am left hurt and forgotten  

I do not learn from these mistakes 

I have to help them since I can’t help myself   

I want to protect them from my hideous face  

Protect them from my identity  

Save them from me  

Shield them from the demons in my head 

The demons that tell me lies 

Lies that hurt me more than anything else has 

They see my mask, not the scars I made  

They see my mask, not the tears I shed  

They see my mask, not the pain I hide underneath