a reflection poem: the mirror

A poem

hey girl

does it ever get tiring

of playing this game 

again and again?

everyday she pauses before the mirror

takes a breath and stares at herself

tired eyes devoid of hope

Weary heart and jaded soul

sunken cheeks and dark circles

a picture perfect imperfection

somehow she notices

all the little things that was

once never there before

the scars that pepper her

skin like dusted freckles

the heavy set of her

 tense shoulders

and the resigned look in her

lightless gaze

the very girl she knows

fading right in front of her eyes

"No, this is not me, this wasn't how I used to be" she screams inside

yet her reflection merely stares back

a lifeless mask set on her face

there once used to be rainbows behind those cracked eyelids

there used to be a flower garden blooming in those ample cheeks

there once used to be butterflies erupting from those ocean eyes

now where did it all disappear?

all I see is a flawed and scarred 

body filled with despair

there's a story behind those 

quivering lips

sweaty hands that thoughtlessly

smoothe the wrinkles 

in her faded dress

lost somewhere in the world

between the then and the now

eyes that look away from

the ghost of a

familiar reflection

now seems like glancing at a

stranger wearing her rightful skin

her lungs whisper a 

rueful breath

a sad smile stretched across

her down turned lips

flaws and blemishes

become beauty marks

as her eyes shutter

lonely tears escape before

she settles the mask 

perfectly on her face

and walks away

yet her reflection still lingers

frozen inside the lifeless mirror

and whispers the truth she fears

"I'm not the girl I used to be, 

Im just her sad reflection,

that's what I'll ever be"

by

Iniya prakasha