The mask wears a mask


THE MASK WEARS A MASK



When the mask wears a mask

the bottom angers the top,

the back offends the front.



And black flames cut both ways.



When the back base defends

the fractal face of its representation,

its believable though brazen cosmetics,

its sordid silence of sense,

the face that wears the mask that wears a mask

makes ashes of its face.



And black flames cut both ways.



How painful still and necessary,

that profundity of the poet who knew

the exquisite uncertainty

of bird and mouth that sing,

the grotesque beauty of things

who chant for eternities

how the mask wears a mask

to immortalize the moral motto:



And black flames cut both ways.





Jerry W. Ward, Jr.                            February 2, 2018

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