The Masked Man

The Masked Man

The masked man wants to live just for today

Yet he still yearns for yesterday

And aches for tomorrow.

He looks for a quick fix in his vices,

which feel like paradises,

but they always leave him more broken than before.

The masked man has many majestic ideas

and ambitions too great for this world

But he lives in a prison, paralyzed by his fear.

His fear of complacency,

is really his fear of change.

His fear of failure,

is truly his fear of success.

His fear is his loathing,

for it becomes his undoing. 

The masked man is a cog in the machine

A machine which cures all ills, so long as it brings in the bills.

He builds his bankroll every day

But deep down, he feels bankrupt.

His wallet grows, and the blood in his heart flows

But his spirit is faltering, languishing, wilting. 

What is sicker than a sullen soul?

His greatest fear

isn't monsters, maelstroms, or malevolence 

nor heights, hunger, or hell
The thing he fears most,

is the mirror in his cell.

The masked man lives
in a nightmare

because his dreams
never come true.

So who is this Masked Man?

It mustn't be you.