Who Are You?

         Don't be fooled by me; don't be fooled by the face I wear. I wear a mask, I wear a thousand masks. Masks that I am afraid to take off, and none of them are me.

         Pretending is an art that is second nature to me, but don't be fooled. For my sake, don't be fooled. I give the impression that I am sincere, that all is sunny and unruffled within me as well as without, that confidence is my name and coolness is my game; that the water is clam and I am in command, and that I need no one. But don't believe me, please. My surface may seem smooth, but my surface is my mask, my ever-varying and ever-concealing mask.

         Beneath lies no smugness, no compliance. Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in fear, in aloneness, but I hide that. A nonchalant, sophisticated facade to help me pretend, to hide me from the glance that knows. But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only salvation, and I know it. that is, if it's followed by acceptance, if it's followed by love.

         It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself, from my own self-built prison cell, from the barriers I so painstakingly erect. It's the only thing that will assure me of what I can't assure myself that I am really something...

         "Who am I," you may wonder. I am someone you know very

well. I am every man you meet. I am every woman you meet. I am right in front of you. Please ... love me!

                                                                                                                        From Glad To Be Me

            By Don, Pereta, and Elkins

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