Masks and Mirrors

Spoken Word by Mikey & V

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They handed me a mask before I even knew my name.
Told me to wear it.
Told me it was protection.
Told me it was survival.

Smile here.
Bow there.
Hide that.
Kill that.
Swallow that.
Play the part or disappear.

And when the mask didn’t fit—
they handed me a mirror.

But not a real mirror.
A mirror warped by fear,
fractured by lies,
cracked by the reflections of a thousand broken men before me.

I didn’t see myself.
I saw their expectations.
I saw their insecurities.
I saw the beast they wanted me to tame inside myself.

Masks to please them.
Mirrors to deceive me.

It was never about being free.
It was about being useful.
A pretty pawn in a dying system.

---

But something inside me broke the glass.
Something inside me tore the mask apart.

A whisper too wild to be taught.
A name too sacred to be bought.
A fire too ancient to be quenched by culture.

I remembered.
I remembered I was made in fire, not in fear.
I was born from breath, not from branding.
I was crafted in the image of the King,
not molded by the masks of cowards.

---

Now when they hand me masks, I burn them.
Now when they hand me mirrors, I shatter them.

Because I don’t find myself in glass.
I find myself in God.

Because I don’t wear their roles.
I wear His righteousness.

Because I am not the shadow they built to control.
I am the son He forged to reign.

---

Final Strike:

"I am done with masks.
I am done with mirrors.
I walk unveiled.
I walk unafraid.
I walk in the reflection of the One who never wore a mask,
and who never bowed to broken glass."