No one must see Me

Fingers riveted to fill the gap, a mask I spend days lurking behind,

like the webs above my crown, spun with smoke and coffee steam;



the flouresent light from the computer screen, it blinds me,

bleaching my skin, hiding my expressions behind a white guise;



my aging eyes do droop, the circles 'round them badges of honor,

I strain to thrive in the screen's light, to melt into the swivel chair;



the silence that hangs about me, it drapes itself onto my shoulers,

embracing me and kissing my cheek, weighing my old bones down;



the words that blink before me, typed by my cold and achy fingers,

are all I may afford to nurture, the only comfort I need seek;



I keep my mask on until dawn, when my eyes flicker and weld shut,

to my bed I do crawl blind, and curl into the abyss my blankets hide;



upon advancing beams of noon, the mask has slipped away,

and left is a child, wide-eyed and drained of the life once held;



stumbling out of my bed I drop to my knees, feeling the floor,

to find the mask I so cherish, the guise that makes me impenetrable;



little do people see it is a mask, for foolish they are and so convinced,

it must be real, and the child the one that is the trick;



yet here I sit in the darkness, bleached by the computer screen,

old and wise with the world that exists not, a wasting fanatic;



I must keep such a mask on, slight the corruption in me and smile,

for it is all for the best, no one must see me. 



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I realize that this poem may be a bit cryptic - but, in a way, it's supposed to be. At least, the underlying message in it is meant to be. Thanks for reading!