Mirror

Back when she was just a little girl .

Smiling back innocently at herself

A rapidly changing, shifting world

Scared to be imperfect, she chose to withdraw

She backed away from the image, she knew that she saw

A fragile, terrified image. An easily broken little girl.

What the world could behold now was only this confused blur

No fine details to describe

No shape left of her to trace

Withdrawn into camouflage, no seek just hide

Just one more star fleck in space

A few years had passed and she had grown

What peered back at her was still unknown

Looking at herself, seeking her lost reflection

Certain she’d been hiding from this place

Decided that now it’s time for this correction

To adjust the focus on the blur, to find her face

A few more years had passed

She had grown once more

What peered back at her

Had become a bit more restored

No more concealing her identity true

To find the right masks that fit the crowd or master the new moves

In order to correct her blurred view

She must adjust the focus on herself to…

Find out what makes her real

Find out what makes her feel

She looks in the mirror today

She sees wrinkles and scars

Evidence that the little girl she thought would break

Had made it through more than just a few wars

The beauty is not in her face, but in what she can take.

The mirror doesn’t hold the importance it once did.

As it can’t see the remarkable internal mechanics of a kid.

I no longer look for my reflection in a flat surface called the mirror

But in the smiles on my children’s faces. I’ve never seen myself clearer.