Doors and Masks (original)

[Codey]

After reading Gabes post in the closet forum and being encouraged and gathering nerve from his post, this is the original version of Doors and Masks

Doors and Masks

A poem by Codey

We all have hopes and all have dreams, and bolstered by youthful zeal,

we set forth to conquer the world but meet demons unfortunately real.

Demons come in many shapes and forms but the demons most unkind,

are the demons you allow to rule your lives, the demons who dwell in your mind.

If you give up, grow faint of heart, you lose hope and what you desire

will slowly dim and fade away like the light from a dying fire.

When fear replaces hopes and dreams and moves into the fore,

you seek a place of safety, you don your masks and shut the door.

You wear these masks in public, to hide amongst the crowd,

the who that you are, to always be hidden, veiled behind a shroud.

The essence of your being, you keep boxed and safely stored,

in neat little rows on hidden shelves, behind that shielding door.

Those of my generation, in numbers still unknown,

reap bitter crops, from the seeds, past generations have sown.

In the normal confusion of youth, we wander through a maze,

seeking the face of people like us, and answers to questions we raise.

How will we find those answers, to what life holds in store,

when the faces and the people we seek, are hidden behind that door?

The loss of family or friends, may leave you feeling sad,

but why should you mourn the loss of something you may have never had?

If your lives are based on deceit and lies, there's something we would ask.

Does their love and friendship belong to you or belong to the man in the mask?

You'll never find the answer, to that question and many more,

unless you finally strip off your masks and step bravely through that door.

[aj]

*applause*