Masquerade

I put on my mask and enter this place.
Looking, calmly, at my unknown fate.
Smiling, they take me by the hand. Their melodic laughter fills my ears.
I do not know who they are, only the masks selected carefully for my viewing.
Falling head over heels into the deadly dance of the masquerade,
forever falling.
Suddenly, I am alone
with only a few of them left in tow.
Secrets they want me to bestow,
that of which no one else knows.
But behind the mask I hide
from all those prying eyes.
They promise me lies
with smiles so fake.
Their word I refuse to take.
They speak of stories each so different, revealing some of the wearer of the mask.
Asking what secrets I have with a laugh.
For to them I would not have secrets like that.
But I do.
The secrets behind my mask are dark.
Bursting to be released,
yet yearning to remain hidden.
I must protect this mask of mine,
it contains my only alibi.
My secrets of love,
of hate,
of stories untold,
I want,
yet fear
to mistakenly unfold.
Returning from the masquerade,
I remove the mask for another day.
Looking upon my face I see
the outlines of the mask engraved forever deep.
This masquerade I love to play.
This masquerade I can't escape.