Identity
What would you do?
If I told you who I was?
If I told you my secret identity?
Would you run?
I have to keep it a secret.
Because I don’t want anyone to
know who I truly am.
Why can’t I be the real me?
Hiding under a thousand masks,
What else would you ask?
If you knew who I am
You would have already run.
Under all the pressure,
To be so perfect.
At least it’s a nice gesture.
If I took off the masks
There would only be a hundred more.
So don’t try to open that door.
Will you say you love me?
If I were to show you what I am? Will you believe me?
If I were to tell you who I am?
-By Ashlie Ortiz
High School Student, Lane County Oregon
PARTNER POEM
We Wear the Mask
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but oh great Christ, our cries
To Thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
—Paul Laurence Dunbar
ASK THE POEMS: Identity and We Wear the Mask
1. Where are the people who don’t wear masks?
2. How old were you when you first put the mask on?
3. Does your inner self wear a mask to speak with you?
4. What if there is no real face underneath?
5. Can masks keep you warm and safe?
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