the sky darkened and decomposed into the blackness
giving up a trail of reflections and thoughts
thoughts in mind, sleeping into tomorrow
thoughts waiting to be released into the light
ahhhhhhh
feels so delicious to allow new composition to escape

Brian Hill - 2020 # 225

Reflections
by Michael R. Burch

I am her mirror.
I say she is kind,
lovely, breathtaking.
She screams that I’m blind.

I show her her beauty,
her brilliance and compassion.
She refuses to believe me,
for that’s the latest fashion.

She storms and she rages;
she dissolves into tears
while envious Angels
are, by God, her only Peers.

Keywords/Tags: reflection, mirror, image, anorexia, bulimia, cutting, reflections, self-image, self-worth, self-criticism, self-shaming, mrbref

Gazing into my mirror
Looking at the person I have become

The scars on my body
Stories to tell my children

A bright light at the end of the tunnel
Light has even alluded me

Bitterness, sadness, tears,
My daily medicine

A fruitless journey into the unknown
An Awakening for many

Looking into my soul
Seeing what my heart bleeds for

My heart bleeds
I want peace

My heart bleeds to be still,
But light at the end of the tunnel,
Has alluded me.

Written Tosan Oluwakemi Thompson

For the well was deep,
      and the water
            endless.

     But I broke on the surface,
Never sinking beneath
The fractured
reflection of the abyss..

Part I

Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Will I live life and love,
Or will I fall
To fits of rage and terror
Kindness- a foreign quality
A sweet poison slowly blurring
The edges of my soul and sanity
Leaving a hole where
There once was light and laughter.
And void of painful questions
Without answers.

Part II
Mirror, mirror, oh my love
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful before
Those erudite eyes, that sweet smile, those lovely curves
Too bad, they can’t seem to calm my nerves
For it doesn’t matter when my skin is dusky
And that is a crime in the eyes of the ivory
Skinned officers who pledge their allegiance
To the rich and the fair
And not their country’s citizens.

Part III
Mirror, mirror oh so fake
Why do you distress me this way?
I hate what I see
But all I see is me
Show me my dreams
And not cold reality
For my actuality is bleak
Or so it feels
In my skinny fit jeans
For 13-year-olds
And not seventeen.

How can you bare to look at yourself in the mirror?
To claim that cheating face — the one that spit out irrevocable lies — as your own.
As you stare into your smoldering eyes, all you find is an eternal disgrace of your name, your family, and your humanity.
Not even a hero could locate the dignity that been retracted from every source in your body.
In essence, you represent hopelessness.
The pitiful source where we must never direct our wishes to.
After years and years of crumbling, your process of collapsing has begun, but only to suddenly end in a silent thud.
A noise that will never be recognized by the ears of mankind.

I have been used
and passed around,
from beast to beast.
I have been abandoned
by hope and forgotten
by dreams of a better life.

But,
I have been surviving
and because of this,
I am alive.
My life for today
was guaranteed,
but tomorrow,
these predators may succeed.

So, my world spins
from day to day,
as times loses meaning.
There is nothing left to say.

The lake donned lily pads like brocade. The gossamer blades of grass sparkled with dew that fell like crystalline tears. Diaphanous clouds drifted lazily across a rose painted sky. The ambience of it all caught my breath. With the steady hum of the cicadas mingled with the resonance of the hummingbird perched on the dogwood tree, I was utterly transfixed.