A.I.M.Group

The Mask

Don't be fooled by me

Don't be fooled by the mask I wear

For I wear a thousand masks, masks I am afraid to take off

And none of them is me

Pretending is an Art that is second nature to me, but don't be fooled

For God's sake don't be fooled

I give you the impression that I am secure

That all is sunny and unruffled with me

Within as well as without

That confidence is my game

That the water's calm and I'm in command and that I need no-one

But don't believe me, please.

My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask

Beneath this lies no complacence

Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in fear and aloneness

But I hide this, I don't want anybody to know it.

I panic at the thought of my weakness and fear of being exposed

That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind

To help me pretend, to shield me from the glance that knows -

To help me pretend, to keep you from finding the real me.

But such a glance will not ruin me - it will save me -

that is if it is followed by acceptance, if it's followed by love

It's the only thing that will assure me of what I can't assure myself

That I am worth something

But I don't tell you this, I don't dare, I'm afraid to

I'm afraid your glance will not be followed by acceptance and love

I'm afraid you'll think less of me, that you'll laugh at me

And your laugh will kill me

I'm afraid that deep down I'm nothing, that I'm no good

And that you will see this and reject me

So I play my desperate game

With a facade of assurance without, and a trembling child within

And so begins my parade of masks, and my life becomes a front

I idly chatter to you

I tell you everything that is really nothing

And nothing of what is everything, of what's crying within me

So when I'm going through my routine,

do not be fooled by what I'm saying

What I'd like to be able to say

What for survival I need to say, but what I can't say.

I dislike hiding, honestly!

I dislike the phoney game I'm playing

I'd like to be really me - but you've got to help me

Even when that's the last thing I seem to want

Only you can call me to aliveness

Each time you're kind and gentle and encouraging

Each time you try to understand because you really care

I want you to know how important you are to me

Please help me to remove my mask.