Monday, May 21, 2012

Behind the Mask

He hides behind the perfect guise,
obscures the truth with well-masked lies
so audience will never know
assume its all part of the show.

Immersed in jagged compromise,
he hides behind the perfect guise,
and wields his pride like two-edged blade
while sinking deeper in charade.

Sequestered in this circus tent
and contemplating life misspent,
he hides behind the perfect guise --
within some rings there is no prize.

Well-camoflauged by painted smile,
he swallows back the bitter bile;
and even friends don’t realize ...
he hides behind the perfect guise.

© Ginny Brannan  May 2012

Image: The Circus with the Yellow Clown, 1967, Marc Chagall


















Written for The Mag #118  (Magpie Tales), image provided by Tess Kincaid. She provides the image, we provide the story!

15 comments:

  1. which is rather tragic you know...to always be hiding..and never being real...or feeling that you cant...nice form and nice repetition ginny

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  2. Nicely constructed and developed. The line, 'he hides behind the perfect guise' is memorable. Thank you for sharing your wonderful poem, Ginny. =D

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  3. Ginny this is really well done! Stanza 2 is my favorite. I also noticed that we both used bile (or a form of the word in our pieces this week, lol). Oh, and congrats on your FEPC award!

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    1. I guess GMTA (great minds think alike) Mary! Oops, and speaking in acronyms, that would be NWCU award, don't want to step on any toes!

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  4. I don't believe I ever stopped to think about the 'person underneath the makeup' ... very nice.

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  5. Hey! Hey! What a fabulous piece. The words are astounding. That guise indeed.

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  6. "Immersed in jagged compromise"
    I like that line

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  7. I think everyone can relate to this in some way

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  8. Nice form...it worked well with this piece...

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  9. well-crafted Quatern, Ginny... iambs all in order so it lilts nicely. The repetition the form offers is a strong line... great piece

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  10. wonderful work, Ginny. your scope knows no boundaries.

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Thank you for reading my poetry and sharing your thoughts.