Some wear masks so beautifully

the world forgets to wonder

what lies beneath.

They weave a life from appearances,

paint kindness across borrowed faces,

build kingdoms from carefully chosen truths

until strangers applaud

the person they were taught to see.

And the applause grows louder.

But somewhere beyond the lights

are the few who knew the darkness.

The ones who saw the mask slip,

who heard the silence between the lies,

who wandered through rooms

the world was never invited into.

They were there

when the beautiful illusion

became something else entirely.

And when they finally walked away,

they did not leave untouched.

They left carrying pieces of the truth

like shards beneath their skin

broken in places no one could see,

scarred by a story

no one else would believe.

So let the world applaud the mask.

Only those who survived what lived behind it

will ever know the face beneath.