Illusions

Shame conceals us like a costume
It hides our secrets; gives us the illusion of armor
We have been told that we are not immortal
Doomed to one identity
But of all that we lack and all that we are not
Our costume conceals everything
Our secret self defines us.
The truth is gone
Our costume irrevocably transforms who we are
And the self we knew finds its way
Into nothingness