Always a mask
Held in the slim hand whitely
Always she had a mask before her
face-
Truly the wrist
Holding it lightly
Fitted the task:
Sometimes however
Was there a shiver,
Fingertip quiver,
Ever so slightly-
Holding the mask?
For years and years and years I
wondered
But dared not ask
And then-
I blundered,
Looked behind the mask,
To find
Nothing-
She had no face.
She had become
Merely a hand
Holding a mask
With grace.
Author unknown, but captured by Marshall Rosenberg in his book Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life (A book that I’m looking forward to re-reading/re-listening).
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