MY POETRY BOOK

MASK

MASK
[We make and break promises. Are we sincere in promising? Do we just wear a mask?]


Strangers meet, promise friendship,
In rancor, go apart.
Lovers meet and promise love
And in hatred depart.

Betrothed ones tie up the knot
But only to untie;
Solemn vows of purest love
They take but soon defy.

Children tell their old parents
They would meet all their need;
But this they forget too soon
And hardly pay them heed.

Despite trying to be a
Good human, citizen;
We often end up in sin,
Even commit treason.

Do we even know ourselves?
Let us from ourselves ask:
“Which one is our real self,
And which one is the mask?”

* Written in abcb 7-6-7-6 format

M C Gupta
11 October 2003
[Initially written as item 763306 which was replaced on 4 June 2005 by the present entry.]