smashing mirrors

memory box.

i looked into a mirror today.

i saw myself, but not myself.

i was young and innocent,

at that age where every girl is pretty,

not knowing sadness,

not knowing pain.

 

i looked at my reflection

and it changed.

my eyes were cold,

my frame shrunken,

my face pale and lined

still so far to go.

 

i looked at my reflection

and i saw myself last year.

i remember that picture;

you had your arm around me

and i had my face to the truck window

smiling a secret smile

lost in bliss for once.

 

i looked at my reflection

and i see myself now.

all bones yet all fat.

all fire yet all ice.

all pain yet all numbness.

my hands clench into fists.

my face contorts in rage.

 

i slam my fist into the mirror and it shatters

fragments scraping off my fist, bloody knuckes,

i am the sum of red black broken words

and i attack the mirror until my dresser is littered with glass.

i looked into a mirror today and i saw what was.

i saw my reflection and i saw who i could have been.

i try to punch the mirror again, and i strike only wall on the other side.

Reviews

[Lyzzy Redd]

As I say on all of your poems, it's beautiful, but there's something about this one. Something uneasy and tense, and I like that. I think everyone can relate to this feeling of change, of being young and naive and then growing into someone who must shoulder many burdens.