I Wear a Mask

(This poem is from some bygone era when i used to write poems......and this is one of my early ones, one of the very few that I wrote in English. I had this on my first blog, just copied it here)

I wear a mask,
To hide the real me from the world
I wear a mask,
For I am afraid the world will know who I really am,
And I am not sure whether thats what it wants me to be
I wear a mask,
To fend off the sniggers and barbs that you might throw at me
I wear a mask,
Because I am afraid to be me.

Yet I want the world to know the real me,
I want you to be my friend
To share with you all my secrets and my insecurities
I want you to understand me
To stand by me whether i am right or wrong
I want you to say you know me.

But I fear you won't understand
And I don't blame you for that,
Because its me who tries my best
Never to take off that mask,
Yet I am tired of it
And wish someone could take it off for me.

What you see of me today,
Is not the real me
I have lived a life
Thinking what others might think
And I have said things
That i felt others would like.

I want you to come,
And take off my mask
I want you to be my friend
I will not tell you so
And I will resist your attempts
Maybe you will be tired
And let go of me
But I want you to try, my friend,
For through you I want
The whole world to see me