We’re getting pretty good at wearing these masks that line our closets
they’ve all got their uses, some of them more than one and the best ones have accessories too;
a red scarf, a hat with a feather in it, an old black velvet shoe

My closet is pretty much overflowing these days, but I keep buying more anyway
I get bored quickly and they only give you a fleeting thrill
and what would I do if one day I couldn’t find one and I had to go out naked?

If you’re lucky the man of many masks will loan you one to keep you safe
but his might not fit quite properly, it’ll sit askew and people will notice that it doesn’t look the same as theirs and they might try to look underneath

My favourite mask sits upon me delicately, so cleverly they don’t detect it,
it’s black, of course, and I wear it out to dinner with the red scarf and the hat with a feather in it
and my old black velvet shoes, and talk quietly while I wait for

the moment when we’ll leave the restaurant and linger on the footpath, watching the stars and our breath hanging in the cold air, waiting to see which direction everyone is going in because maybe we can invent excuses to follow each other so
we won’t be alone for another little while.