The mirrors - a poem (work in progress)
Posted: March 23rd, 2023, 11:08 am
I woke up this morning and had some thoughts that I wanted to express. I haven't written any poetry in a long time, and this I honestly tossed out pretty quickly. It doesn't feel finished and I will probably revise it, so it is a work in progress.
I'm not sure why two mirrors rather than one or three or some other number. There was a reason why two stuck in my mind, but I don't recall.
Anyways, if you criticize, please be gentle - as I said it has been a long time, and I'll be the first to admit it is kind of clunky in places. If you have edit suggestions, I welcome them (but may or may not implement them, haha)
I'm not sure why two mirrors rather than one or three or some other number. There was a reason why two stuck in my mind, but I don't recall.
Anyways, if you criticize, please be gentle - as I said it has been a long time, and I'll be the first to admit it is kind of clunky in places. If you have edit suggestions, I welcome them (but may or may not implement them, haha)
The Mirrors
In the town were I was raised,
A man at two mirrors often gazed.
The townsfolk gossiped if you'd list,
“The man must be a narcissist!”
Each morn and eve, so long he gazed,
Ere long his neighbors' ire he raised.
“What an ego! How conceited!”
The rumor mill was ne'er depleted.
Until one day they hatched a plan,
To send – poor ME! – to confront the man.
They schooled me long what I must say,
To humble this mere popinjay.
I approached him then without a pause,
Confident in my worthy cause,
With stern demeanor and a frown,
I went to confront this prideful clown.
The man's eyes howe'er lacked admiration,
They gleamed instead with concentration.
Peered first in one glass, then the next,
and then would sigh, completely vexed.
As I drew near, my sureness faltered,
My cause for coming then was altered.
Not accusing as I'd planned,
I chose to try to understand.
So with diffidence I asked
Why he gazed long in the glass.
He turned to me with downcast eyes
and said “within there lies a prize.”
I made to look, but he constrained,
before I saw what they contained
“No treasure comes without a cost,
Peer unprepared, and you'll be lost!”
“'Drink deep, or taste not the Pyrean spring'
is what Pope advised, so here's the thing.
These mirrors reflect not your face,
but rather your soul, to your disgrace.”
“What's this? A prize you promised me!
Why would I in these mirrors see,
Those things which I most wish to hide?”
He chuckled dryly at my side.
“That is not the prize.” he said,
“That is the price paid in its stead.”
“Your flaws laid bare before your eyes,
is what will lead you to the prize.”
“Every man these things posses,
but scarcely in them looks, I guess.
And ere long forgets what they contain,
Missing the treasure, see only a bane.”
“In such a mirror, one can view,
the very things one ought to do
to make the world a better place.
Improve THAT man, improve the race.”
I walked away, I saw it plain,
Self-reflection need not be vain.
The Spirit gave another nudge,
“This is why thou shalt not judge.”