Reflection

by beauty from ashes   Apr 26, 2013


Mirror, mirror, whose side are you on?
You show me my faults, display my insecurities.
Mirror, mirror, I ask you who is fair, and you reply, "Not you."
You show me the outside, but not my heart.
Mirror, mirror, for once display my virtues
Show me what matters in life-
Mirror, mirror, this is but a shell
Show me my living, breathing soul
Mirror, mirror, on my wall
Show me only true beauty - once and for all.

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  • 11 years ago

    by Marcy Lewis

    This poem just...wow. I'm pretty much speechless for an intro to this upcoming unnecessarily lengthy breakdown. xD I hope this gets recognition. I nominated it for the weekly win.

    "Mirror, mirror, whose side are you on?
    You show me my faults, display my insecurities."

    ^ This has a very bitter taste to me in the beginning, not sadness. The anger from the first line, "Who's side are you on?!" just really started this piece off with strong emotion. The second line, I probably interpreted a little bit deeper than necessary, but, with "You show me my faults" I feel like you can see the visible fails on the speaker of this poem. Whether it's physical - from self harm, and eating disorder, a tattoo of some sort, or it shows the emotion you see clearly in yourself. For instance, I remember looking in the mirror once before church over a year ago, putting on my church-smile, and then seeing the very recognizable torture underneath it. That's what I mean. That you're so emotionally damaged, it's registered physically. When you say "Display my insecurities." to me, that means you've accepted these certain things are wrong with you - and in your mind, you SEE what you can't stand, instead of something that's just a part of you. It, whatever it is, is no longer a part of you, it's just a blemish. That's how I interpreted this. The first two lines kicked the breath out of my body, because I know and love you on a personal level -- and this poem is so newly human and deeply personal from you.

    "Mirror, mirror, I ask you who is fair, and you reply, "Not you."
    You show me the outside, but not my heart."

    ^ I really did think because of the first three lines, this would just be a poem about your physical insecurities and how you wish you could change what you see in the mirror, and what is so touching to me, is that you quickly flip it, and the tenor changes to a soft-spoken feeling, really, for lack of a better word, sad piece. "Mirror, mirror, I ask you who is fair, and you reply, 'Not you.'" Really just felt like you were kicking yourself really hard, which just breaks my heart. It really does. We all know that the voice here you 'hear' from the mirror is your thoughts - but your eyes can't help but focus in on your physical reflection. With the line, "You show me the outside, but not my heart." I feel like you're searching to try to make your eyes find the beauty inside that reflects to your outside. This is a personal struggle poem with identity to me -- not a piece about a mirror speaking to you.

    "Mirror, mirror, for once display my virtues
    Show me what matters in life-
    Mirror, mirror, this is but a shell
    Show me my living, breathing soul"

    ^ What I liked about this is that you know that you're a good person, you have strengths, and you truly do have such a beautiful heart and soul, and THAT is what you desire to be reflected. Not much more to be said. I think that if we were to unwrap our souls and wear them, some of the prettiest people would be ugly, and some of the homeliest would be the most breathtaking. Just my opinion.

    "Mirror, mirror, on my wall
    Show me only true beauty - once and for all. "

    ^This ending can either mean, show me my heart reflected, or show me (insert shallow definition of beauty). It really depends on the person reading it, but of course, I picked the first.

    Maybe because it's I'm emotional this morning, but this is one of the strongest pieces I've read lately. It is dripping with raw emotions that are hard to write.
    AND I'm totally sorry for writing a book-long break-down of your poem!

    But really, truly a beautiful piece.

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