THE MASK, Maya Angelou

The Mask

by Maya Angelou

We wear the mask that gins and lies.
It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts ...
We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.
Why should the world think otherwise
In counting all our tears and sighs
Nay let them only see us while
We wear the mask.

We smile but oh my God,
Our tears to thee from tortured souls aris.
And we sing "Oh Baby Doll", now we sing ...
The clay is vile beneath our feet.
And long the mile.
But let the world think otherwise -

We wear the mask.

When I think about myself
I almost laugh myself to death.
My life has been one great big joke!
A dance that's walked a song thats spoke.
I laugh so hard - HA! HA! I almost choke
When I think about myself.

Seventy years in these folks' world
The child I works for calls me, 'girl'.
I say, "HA! HA! Yes, ma'am",
For workin's sake.
I'm too proud to bend and
Too poor to break.
So. I laugh! Until my stomach ache.
When I think about myself,
My folks can make me split my side.
I laugh so hard, HA! HA! I nearly died.
The tales they tell sound just like lying
They grow the fruit byt eat the rind.
Hmmm Huh! I laugh uhuh huh huh ...
Until I start to cry when I think about myself
And my folks and the children.

My fathers sat on benches,
Their flesh count every plank,
The slats leave dents of darness
Deep in their withered flank.
And they gnarled like broken candles,
All waxed and burned profound.
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
That made your world go round.

There in those leated faces
I see the aucdtion block.
The chains and slaver's coffers,
The whip and lash and stock.

My fathers speak in voices
That shred my fact and sound
they say, but sugar, it was our submission
That made your world go round.

They laugh to conceal their crying.
They shuffle through their dreams.
They stepped 'n fetched a country
And wrote the blues in screams.
I understand their meaning.
It could and did derive.
From living on the edge of death.
They kept my race alive ...
By wearing the mask ...

*** An adaption of the poem by Paul Lawrence, "We Wear the Mask".

*******************************************************************

#blacklivesmatter #mnfreedomfund #blackandembodied #amplifymelenatedvoices #justice #mayaangelou #mask #georgefloyd

[RenLuuk]

I’m taking a pause on social media from 1-7 June so we can hear more from the voices that really matter in these times. Thank you for listening 🙏

[KimchiAndBeansVideos]

Love Maya. Her words are always so powerful. That survival laugh is so true too. It really paints the picture of how those experiences slowly eat you inside. I need to share this. Thanks for sharing, dear friend.

[SantosChronicles]

So crazy right now here the States. Chicago is burning close to where I use to work. And it’s moving towards the suburbs. We are safe but it’s getting close to lots of my friends. Thanks for sharing these wise words.

[SarahMcGlory]

Crying now, I haven't seen her perform this and it is gut-wrenching. Thank you for sharing, Karen.😘

[FOODFAMILYVLOGS]

This is my first time hearing this one thank you so much for sharing this with us super like#2

[SonnyGreenwichJr]

Nothing could be added to that... Never seen or read that before, brutal honesty

[iknowchris]

nothing need to be said thanks for sharing Karen

[SantosChronicles]

That end with the laughter and the tears afterwards was so powerful.

[ChristopherAlbone]

Super powerful and sadly very poignant.