Poem of the Day: "Maskara" by Anne Carly Abad, a Songs of Eretz Frequent Contributor

Maskara
Anne Carly Abad

I've learned things
I don't need--
smile; cry.
Had I not shown a sign
of life, they'd not have learned
how to think of me.

I'd be a gradient of gray.
All dull things are dull
how I was yesterday, not worth comparing

a clean slate
a passing cloud
a faint shadow in dizzy light

without a face

what I could become

Poet's Statement:  We demand a response, slapping a baby to wakefulness in order to determine life or its absence thereof. To some, to live is to have the freedom to establish oneself. But to others, this is just a way to build a more sophisticated prison.