MASK! | AK Das

Boisterous, measured, hilarious, abrupt,

laughter alters in its flight over a face

bright, innocent, wrinkled, furrowed,

vivid in all its colours, shades, contours.

 

Now a mask has crept in, covering

from ear to ear nose, lips underneath,

reducing laughter to a smile reflected

by a pair of moving, floating eyeballs.

 

The mask conceals expressions from a face,

making it slippery to read if the smile

is fake or showing the real intent;

it drains the possible emotional reaction.

 

Human face itself is a mask; it pretends,

hides, also falls off, revealing the true self.

But the new mask is engraved on the face,

giving it an identify perhaps of anonymity,

 

Yet, this may be a temporary phenomenon.

The virus will be conquered, mask torn off.

The face will shine with friendly humanity,

even if the game of concealment stays on.

— A.K. Das, 6 July 2020