Masquerade

I sit alone, earphones plugged in,
Music serenading me. I’m lost in my own universe,
In a crowded bus, going home.
The day had been fun
Just my friends and me.
We had lunch, a coffee,
The usual.
But now I’m going home.

I sit there and a process begins,
One that occurs a million times over
Everyday of our lives.
My skin begins to slough
I moult like a snake or pathetic bird,
Till I am myself.
But it’s not over, far from it.
Virulent ooze begins to coat me
A rank putrid slime seeping out of every pore.

It covers me.
It suffocates me…

Some one occupies the seat next to me
A stranger, a man I might never see again.
He takes a glance at me, just a passing one,
Nothing to hold his gaze,
After all there’s nothing there to surprise him.

The slime slowly hardens, coalesces
Around my face, my mouth, my eyes.
It’s my stop. I get down.
My mask is ready.