Black Mask

• Asantewaa Kyei-Agyapong, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2019

At ten o’clock on the weekends, she’s the first in church,
Singing psalms and jubilations at the top of her lungs.
In the background, all glorious music of worship joining in,
Until her voice tires of the strain.
And on Sundays, a three-hour morning session,
All dedicated to the one she seemingly serves so devotedly.
But I’d be careful if I were you.
Behind her mask caked with the makeup and smile she wears every day,
Her tongue reciting and rolling out praises, psalms and biblical verses,
Her actions tell another story.
She’ll have a sugary attitude to sell you firsthand,
But I tell you, she’s putrid, sour milk behind closed doors.
Behind the mask, she leads a different life,
A life that’ll twist your mind left and right.
Of course, you’d doubt this, thinking she’s a faith-filled woman;
Just wait till she removes her mask, and take a good look at her…