The Man in the Iron Mask

The feelings have drained from my body.
The will to talk, to think, to feel,
all gone.
And I pick myself up
and I head on with life
and I set my face
and it gets hard.

Lightning strikes from others fall off me.
Inconsiderate words and thoughtless actions
they hit me
and bounce off.
It all makes me harder.
My veneer will not crack.

And I am tested
by people I thought I loved
and by people I wanted to love
and by the very essence involved
in being a part of the world.

And I don't hide.
I take the blows, deflected off me,
I wear my iron mask.
And today nothing will penetrate.