to mask or not to mask...

I've been struggling with masks since long before COVID...

masks that go undetected by the human eye,

the ones we wear to protect ourselves 

from judgement

from vulnerability

from rejection

because to go without one is simply too risky

I don't wear a mask when I am alone,

when I am in the home of friends,

rarely when I am at church,

always when I am shopping, 

or in a medical facility because it is simply too risky

one day, maybe, we will go back to a maskless public

one day, maybe, those invisible masks will be put away too...