Layers

• Chloe Ferreira, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2021

Layers upon layers of hiding.
The things we are afraid of finding.

Emotions we hold, too scared to show
To acknowledge they exist, or even to let go.

The masks on our faces,
Concealing us completely
In a thin invisible lining
And each layer more discretely.

Til under all the layers we become buried,
Buried the person we once knew,
The person you loved and brought joy to be
And so your mask replaces you.

Stripped down to the core,
Where the heart is bare,
But what if you were to find nothing there?
Nothing left, no one to care.