For Halloween, I dressed as me:
fearful me
shame-ridden me.
Infinitesimal, irrelevant
and irksome me.

I dressed as myself
in all my grotesque finery
and paraded down avenues
doing my best impression of the character.
I was very convincing;
talking with all the proper scowls
and taking on all the usual ticks.

And no one could tell me from the real thing.
Absolutely everybody down every single street
genuinely believed
that I was really me
and accorded me all the respect
I usually receive.
It was…
quite convincing.

Halloween was enlightening:
to dress in that skin for the night
and see how I really live,
what it was like to truly be me
for a while.
It was good.
I enjoyed the visit into myself
but when it was time to go home,
I disrobed
took off the costume
and decided that finally
after this experiment,
it was time to become something else.