Masks

Since the beginning

Of this tangled electric madness,

This social soupy media mess,

I’ve been in a quandary

Over how much of me

To reveal to the galaxy

Of virtual strangers.

When alone at the keyboard,

It feels foolish to be phony,

As if I’m so important

That anyone will care

What I dare to share.

Why wear a mask

And maintain a facade,

When one slip of the tongue

Will give me away?

I learned a good lesson

From fibbers and fakers

That truth is a bargain

Against the time it will take

To keep frosting together

All the discordant pieces

Of a big liar cake.

But even so,

I find it hard to relate–

People don’t know me,

Though they’re not to blame:

On the remotest shelf,

I have masks that I wear

When I talk to myself.