beneath my masquerade mask

A Submission by Emily Jensen

a part of April 2020’s Monthly prompt: Heartbreaks, Heartbeats, and Heartaches

love as a ballroom for all
where the masquerade seeks for demise.
for how elaborate is coverage of the truth? 
and how disfigured is the one in disguise?

overwhelmed with the presence of monarchs in spaces where wings had belonged to moths. 
i’ve been intrigued with the new intention of leaving a ballroom for another.

i had never been willing to take off the mask,
to reveal my undertones.
but giving such butterflies in where anxiety dwelled,
and spreading a smile to a place where a grimace had laid;
gives me hope.

for if the intimacy will seep beneath the facade
and the romance will prolong, 
and if the fingertips of another will be craved,
the masquerade will fall.

if this love shall last further than the moment,
and i find us here still.
i’ll lay a hand upon your cheek
and let you look in.

if one was to slip into the night to reveal the underneath,
my veil would dissolve and my soul would ignite.
for if the romance persists and the monarchs shall stay,
my masquerade mask shall never return.