Mask

• Ryan Campbell, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2022

Inside and out, my lungs ran out,
The mask lays down, I can’t hide from the doubt.
The sun pours in leaving the stain behind, along with all the memories that remind.
The mask to remind myself of what I think, and what I should feel, but this can’t be real.
Breath in, breath out, up and down.
White skies, blue eyes.
The mask that holds the face along with the embrace,
Leading to the decline that binds us to the norm of society.
Dirt in my hair, holes in my socks, a bullet wound in my chest,
But I just want to rest, I pinch my arms so that I can suppress, and I can not compare.
Walking down this pathway makes me think. Trees whistle about quells,
Running always makes me blink, while I swell and dwell on how and why.
The façade can’t last long,
And now I feel like I don’t belong.
The mask stays, as my mind turns to blaze.
Inside and out, my time has run out.