“The Mask and the Mercy”

by Larry Allen Haggerty Jr.

I wore a mask of weathered pride,

To hide the cracks I kept inside.

A grin too wide, a voice too sure—

But truth don’t ride with a heart impure.

I dressed in grit, I talked in jest,

But fear still camped inside my chest.

I feared the eyes of other men,

More than the gaze of God again.

I played the part, I knew the lines,

But lost the trail to what was mine.

The image stamped by holy breath,

Got traded out for fear of death.

Like Israel, I sought the crowd,

Their praise, their ways—I wore it proud.

But deep within, my soul grew thin,

And shame rode in where love had been.

Yet mercy met me in the dust,

Not with a whip, but gentle trust.

God didn’t flinch, He didn’t flee—

He saw the scared and truest me.

He said, “You’re Mine, not just a show.

Come drop the mask, it’s time to grow.

My love don’t hinge on how you seem—

I made you bold, I made you clean.”

So now I rise, unmasked, unshamed,

No longer bound by fear or fame.

I walk in grace, I ride in truth—

Beloved still, through age and youth.

What I think