A chum was in the costume business

            So I got to asking him

            How he constructed masks

 

            The kind, I added, that looked real

 

            Start with a mannequin, he said

 

            We did

 

            Before you knew it

            I was ready for the paste and paints

 

            How thick? I queried

            You’re the judge, my mate replied

 

            I laid it on and finished touching up

            And fixed the piece in place

 

            As if just one false move might

            Set off a trap

            Or bomb

 

            Stepping back

            I couldn’t fathom

            How it came to seem

            So much like me