Masking

‘We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.’
― André Berthiaume
 
‘Don’t you, when strangers and friends come to call, straighten the cushions, kick the books under the bed and put away the letter you were writing? How many of us want any of us to see us as we really are? Isn’t the mirror hostile enough?’
― Jeanette Winterson


The knock on the door 
strangers? friends?
such a loud thump thump!
makes me jump out of my skin.
I straighten the books
throw tatty cushions in a cupboard
hide emails (no one writes letters 
these days Jeanette)
and rearrange my face.
I check the mirror. That’s a relief: 
I look nothing like me.
I let them in.