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Tuesday, October 06, 2020

MASQUERADE

by Susan McLean




Muffled like bandits on a raid,
our faces wrapped from chin to eye,
we aren’t intent on ambuscade,
just hoping not to kill or die.

Yet everywhere we see displayed
the nonchalance of passersby,
signaling that they’re not afraid—
their confidence a bare-faced lie.


Susan McLean is the author of two poetry books, The Best Disguise and The Whetstone Misses the Knife, and one book of translations of the Latin poet Martial, Selected Epigrams. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa, a hotspot for COVID-19.