We Wear the Mask
BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
We wear the mask that grins and lies,It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while       
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;But let the world dream otherwise
     We wear the mask!