We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I chose this poem because I think it could stand for many different things in life. There is a saying that people wear different masks everyday to show what role they are playing. But, I believe that we wear masks when we do not want out emotion to be evident to others. When something has upset us or made us mad we will sometimes hide this so that we don't have to confront it with other people. This poem speaks about covering up lies because masks cover our faces and eyes and people can't read a person when their eyes are covered. The poem then asks why should the world know about every tear that we shed, some things in life a meant to be personal and private, so the masks are looked at in a positive fashion. In the last stanza it speaks of smiles covering up cries of tortured souls and I believe that the author of the poem is speaking about how the African Americans had to cover up their faces but their souls still tried to show through. I like the poem for the truth that it speaks.