Identity’s a mental wardrobe

At the start of life,

others chose how you would dress,

told you who you were.

?

Did a uniform

democratize your schoolyard,

make you a target?

?

You build over years

of wants, roles, expectations

selves you wish to show.

Each one’s a costume

for your daily trick or treat,

endless Halloween.

At today’s masked ball,

you choose whom to dance or hide,

seduce or deter.

?

This season’s colors

hanging in your closet-mind,

suggest whom to wear.

?

What’s life’s weather like?

Gaze out your social window.

Whose garb’s in season?

?

How do you decide

a self's too tight or fits well?

Can you move with it?

?

In your neurostore,

shopping for identities,

you say, “That’s not me!”

?

You may also hear,

“But it fits you to a t!

Go on, try it on.”

In the dressing room,

maybe you’ll like it, maybe not,

though it’s fashion now.

?

Not worn for a while…?

“That’s too big!” or, “That’s too small!”

But it’s you that changed.

?

Who stays closeted?

Who’s not afraid to come out,

not scared of bright light?

?

At the Last Judgement –

do the artists paint it right? –

we all stand naked!

Can you find your face?

Will you know who’s standing there

in that blessed crowd?