03/26/2020
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” published in 1896, is a timeless piece of poetry that reaches and inspires many readers in many different ways.
Inspired by this poem here’s my contemporary take.
– Ranger Gregg
We take the selfie
We take the selfie that grins and lies
It hides our loneliness in photo disguise
This compulsion we play hides our true depth,
With frayed and self doubt on our optimistic breath
And always smiling
we take the selfie
Why would our friends think other wise?
As we fool ourselves and friends with photo lies
Indeed, our lives are great and wonderful
when we take the selfie
We brag but oh how we know
Our lives are normal and slow
We sing but of how flat the song
Yet we snap more photos for the throng
But let our friends believe we are cool,
We take the selfie
How are you inspired by Dunbar’s poetry?
We’d love to see your inspirations too.
We Wear the Mask (original version)
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!
