Mirror

By: Portia Miller

What does it tell you?
Does it tell you what lies in your heart?
It tells you what lies on the outside,
That’s for certain.
It tells you how other people perceive you.
How they label you.
You have feel the weight of those labels.
They are a thousand bricks on your shoulders.
You feel an obligation to change.
To cast off these weighty labels,
And lay claim to lighter ones.
 

The longer you wear these weighty labels,
The more crippled you become.
More defeated.

You no longer sleep well,
Tossing and turning,
As the nightmares take hold.

One day,
You’re sick of it.
Sick of carrying the labels,
Tired of caring.

You look in the mirror
Bags under your eyes,
Hair a mess.
Designer clothes hang loosely
On anorexic shoulders.

Who is the fair-

Crash
Shards of glass come tumbling down.
Clattering to the floor,
While you stare at your fractured
Reflection.

 I’m the fairest of them all.