Faces

The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have not yet developed a significant profile of their own.

~ W. H. Auden

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I don't know how I feel about animal faces. Of course, I don't know how animals feel about my face, either.  I do know that the dog that lives by my mailbox at the place I lived before we moved didn't like something about me.  His name is Leo and he always barked at me when I got the mail.  I don't think he barked at Leslie.

(pause)

And now there is Tippy who barks at me and not Leslie.

(pause)

I need a countenance to wear as a mask to hide my confusion about why these dogs all dislike me.