mannequin burlesque

do you ever feel something like
a mannequin burlesque
or a sidestreet freakshow?
(eight dollar cover charge)

i'd rather know who you really are
as a human being or a person.
who do you consider yourself to be?

but maybe that's just me
and my programmed self-loathing

maybe that's just my family,
my schools and my teachers
and all of their middle-class guilt.