"WE WEAR THE MASK"-Paul Lawrence Dunbar
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 O great Christ our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but O the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream other-wise
We wear the mask!