Assume there is a world

where everyone wears a mask.

Not necessarily to hide.

Perhaps to create.

Perhaps to blend in.

Everyone's mask is different.

Some have circular masks. Others are square. A few are grotesque.

But they are different.

Masks are there for life.

Day after day, mask after mask.

Sometimes, the wearer forgets

that there is a "face" behind it.

Life goes on as usual.

Everyone doesn't blink twice

when they see their friends' masks.

And just so easily,

we fall into roles.

Puzzle pieces that fit together.

A hole tailored for us.

And then imagine—

One day, someone's mask changes.

People walk the same road.

The sun still rises. The sun still sets.

But someone comes wearing a different mask.

People do not like it.

They scream. Shout. Demand that they wear their old mask back.

And the person tries to explain.

They have a new mask.
They threw the old one away.

But they do not understand.

They rip off your mask. Tear it to bits.
"You can't have any other mask", they say.

You cry. Beg.

They don't stop.

People hated that your mask changed.

You don't understand why.

Is it because they got too used to your mask?
Uncomfortable with a different one?

You don't understand.

i've been getting into poetry recently lol