To look, and feel and act quite sane
Concealing perfected villainy
There were none who thought ill of me.
I learned of masks in boyish clubs
For boys dig scabs revealing much
Which older eyes can not perceive
They see the things beneath the leaves
Beneath the leaves and under the dirt
Where the rotten, fetid dreams a' flirt
The scabs flake off and soon reveal
All which I had long concealed
And so I left the boyish games
The bully shouts, the taunting flames
And soon did enter puberty
With mask I wore more perfectly
But masks will never hide the eyes
I acted peaceful but was not surprised
To find that young boys now young men
Had challenged me often to defend
For weakness is often seen
Where there is no coward's sheen
For oft mistaken an awkward glance
An invitation to pugilist's dance
I sported a swollen, blood-stained face
The mask I wore red-painted grace
No words, no kicks or untamed fists
Could penetrate my blistered inner-bliss
And so I leaped over teenage years
Given to excess, not subject to fears
With unfettered mind I bound my dreams
In iron-willed resolve no troubles seemed
Possible though impossible thoughts
Burned to break free, putrid wrought
And so the mask so carefully placed
Is slightly off center, and poorly laced
The years have loosened my resolve
The thoughts long bred now evolve
And erupt from behind my warring eyes
I no longer desire to disguise
What made me feel such unrest
For what virtue is sanity, I protest!
There is no excuse for what I do
It is not personal between me and you
The pleasure felt for one, not both
The fear never felt has unwound both
Some laugh as they speak a devil's name
Some laugh not, speak not, know no shame
To give in but for a single day
A single hour, a single way
Release the dragon, the beasts of war
Internal fiends, eternal chore
I summon thee in my five-point star
Impish Id, appear as you are
Tonight we dine upon our sins
Freed from prison, once trapped within
The mask is gone, the dream is pure
And so I can not tarry here
And so I can not tarry here.