Hidden is She

Please note that I am still very new to the whole poetry thing (I've mostly been focusing on photography), so please bear with me as I attempt to grow in my literary abilities! Please feel free to poor everything your thinking into your reviews, don't hold ANYTHING back even if you think it might hurt my feelings . I am prepared for lots of instruction and advice! Thanks in advance for the time you take to read and/or review my poem.

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Hidden is she from the world we know,
the people we see,
the places we go.
She covers her imperfections,
as though hiding behind a paper mask.
One that can rip and tear,
designed with bright colors that are destined to fade.
Yet she always finds a way to repaint it.
Her face is thickly coated with makeup,
hiding the stress lines marked upon her forehead,
and the dark shadows stained beneath her eyes.
Long sleeves and pants conceal the bruises,
the scratches,
the blood.
Her billowy shirts hide the long,
deep stretch marks of a young mother.
Hidden is she from the world we know.
But why is the world we know so ignorant,
so conceited,
so self absorbed that they can't see through the thin,
paper mask that she and so many others hide behind.
So truly, Is it she that is hidden,
or is it us who hide from people like her.

It surprises me that you are new to this. This is a very nice piece. I loved the way you wrote this and I love the message it shares.

At first it seemed familiar, like something I've read a couple of times. An insecure girl who fakes it and lives in misery. Usually I would get completely uninterested by a common topic written uncreatively, but I still focused. I then realized that this wasn't what I thought it was. This was completely different and that made me happy.

I'm wondering about the paper mask. Why does she paint this mask? What does painting the mask do? by painting the mask, do you mean that she is putting make up on every day, and that the mask is her face? I'm confused, let me in on this.

Slone wrote:Her billowy shirts hide the long,
deep stretch marks of a young mother.
Hidden is she from the world we know.
But why is the world we know so ignorant,
so conceited,
so self absorbed that they can't see through the thin,
paper mask that she and so many others hide behind.
So truly, Is it she that is hidden,
or is it us who hide from people like her.

From here and on, I found myself captivated and I wanted to keep reading. When I found out the subject was a young mother, it changed my perspective on the poem. I began to wonder more about her. I wondered if people were ashamed or disappointed in her. I wonder if she was a proud mother. These questions obviously don't need to be answered, what I'm trying to say is that you got a strong reaction from me. Hopefully other readers will feel the same.

the ending was amazing and I have nothing else to say about it. This was overall a lovely piece, please keep writing! I hope this helped and have a wonderful evening!

Thanks so much for the two reviews I have gotten so far! I will definitely take your advice! As for the question you had , housecat, the paint does not represent an object like makeup. Its just to add to the feeling of how she is always just trying to cover up her imperfections. She gets wrinkles, the paint fades. She puts on makeup, she paints over it. she gets a bruise, the paint fades. she wears a long sleeved shirt, she paints over it. Do you kind of understand what I'm getting at?