So, Mother said, "Smile for the camera..."

And Father said, "Straighten up your mask..."

And I whispered, "Don't let anyone know, or tell, or show..."

And the Garden said, "We are Life and Life is beautiful."

And I believed all the flowers, because they are beautiful.

But the stones remembered, and the stones don't lie.

They said, "This is what is; and this is what was."

And I listened. I took off the mask.

There were all the true colors.

Then I burned the masks that my children were supposed to wear.

Instead, I asked them for tea and conversation.

Our portrait is a little different.