THE MASKS WE WEAR,
THE MASKS THAT WEAR US
—Kevin Jones, Elk Grove, CA
I have always wondered.
Do we mask to disguise
Who we are?
Or to become
Who we are?
*
Had a colleague
Who taught Maskmaking
As Discovery. With a
Little papier-mâché
And some paint,
You could become you—
Or somebody else.
A popular course. And
The instructor hung
The projects on the
Center’s walls, attracting
Even more students.
When they began
Using taxidermy
Eyes, the dean got
Nervous, as deans do,
Cancelled the course.
I looked for years in the
Storage rooms
For the leftover bags of
Eyes.
*
Was fascinated to learn
About the masks of
Classic Greek drama.
Supposedly, as the plays
Were performed in huge
Stadia, the mask served
As a megaphone. Still,
As you’re acting
In plays that have
Humans contending
With gods, not a bad
Idea for a bit of
Disguise.
*
Read all of Joseph
Campbell’s Masks
Of God while a couple
Of weeks snowbound.
Came to believe in
Lots of things (Spring
Thaw will come, I know),
But never understood why
God needed a mask.
*
If you embrace
A dichotomous
Theology, you notice
The counterpart,
The smiling, well dressed
Man down at the
Crossroads never
Needed one, just
Wider than normal
Boots, reddish,
Of snakeskin
Or dragon, I’m sure.
*
There’s a story
About William James
At a costume party,
Though who’d want
To invite any, any of the
James brothers, or even
Alice, to a party?
William is taken by
A woman in an exquisite
Mask, asks her to
Take it off. Another mask
Underneath. And another,
And another. Finally, a
Graduate student,
A teaching assistant:
“Sorry, Dr. James, it’s
Masks all the way down.”
I’ve heard the same story
Of Gary Snyder and
Turtles, but they slide
Off the face so easily.
*
The clown’s makeup,
A trademarked mask.
Speaks of as many
Things as there
Are clowns. The mime’s
Mask, on the other
Hand, says nothing at all.
*
In graduate school,
Was able to get away
With ending papers with
“And the rictus of horror
Can often be confused
With the mask
Of laughter” to end
Bad papers. But
Only for a couple
Of semesters.
*
Is that a mask?
You need to ask?
_______________________
—Medusa
