My poem, "The Mask"

[TheyMayBeBears]

Hey guys, long time no see. I've missed playing and being with the community, but due to life circumstances, I've become almost completely inactive. But I still have lots of great memories from you guys that I still cherish.

Anyway, I wrote a poem today, inspired by the Armada (primarily referencing Kane's mask, as you can see from the title) for my English class. It's kind of dark, but I hope you'll enjoy it (and I hope I get a good grade on it hahah).

And before you ask, no, none of what I say about myself isn't true. Luckily, I'm not insane; I was inspired by Edward Allen Poe's works.

The Mask

Who am I?
Am I a student?
Am I a daughter?
Am I a friend?
Am I a sister?
What if I’m neither?

What if it is all an illusion
Of titles, of names, of labels, of misconceptions
A charade of false emotions, a masquerade of faces
A farce of life stories, experiences, narratives, and tragedies
That never existed?

What if it is all a dream
That no matter how hard you tried
No matter how desperate you strived
No matter what you did to change your dire circumstances
In the end, it was never worth it?

What if it was all a hallucination
Spurred by trauma, prompted by horror, driven by agony
Seeing invisible wonders
Hearing horrible voices
Feeling strange sensations
All to realize
Was it never there in the first place?

Who am I
To believe that I wear the face of another
To hear the devils in my mind
To be withering away at the soul
To be decaying at the body
To believe that joy was artificial and fantastical
From the beginning of time?

I am a clockwork
That only lives because I was made to
Whose heartbeat is merely the sound of gears clinking
Whose muscles work only because of the key on my back
That someone turned to prolong my suffering
Whose thoughts are as nonexistent
As the flesh that covers my body
Or the blood that pumps through my veins
Or the eyes that allow me to see
The mouth I can speak and taste from
And the ears I can hear others.

I am soulless
I am feelingless
I am thoughtless
I am empty
I am broken
I am heartless
I am a nobody.

And when I put on the mask
I become a student
A daughter
A friend
A sister
Who is but an allusion, a dream, a hallucination.

The titles, names, labels, misconceptions come back
The emotions well up
The mask bears the face
Of a pleasant, kind, intelligent teenager girl
Who has lived life’s stories, experiences, narratives, and tragedies.

I try
I strive
I wish to change
But how can I
When trauma, horror, and agony haunts me
Like the dead spirit clinging lifelessly
To the side of my waking body?

But you can’t tell
Through my mask of shame, guilt, despair, and terror
Because if you tried to peel it off me
You wouldn’t find anything underneath
But a shadowy abyss.
And you would stare into it.

Don’t beg for mercy
Because I wouldn’t hear it
But it would kill you
Because I am a clockwork
Desolate, barren, and lifeless
Like my spirit that lays by my feet.

And when I pick up the mask
I put it back on
Because I know not better
Than to discard it
Because it is as much part of me
As it is my body's now impassive heart.

[Willowdreamer]

Wow, that's awesome! I can definitely see the inspiration from Poe.

[Cadmus]

truly a work of art