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        Forsaken Endeavors



        I stood there, the floor decaying away
        Beneath my bare and wearied feet,
        Peering into the mirror, past the gray
        That met my eyes at every turn.
        I looked and leaned in close until
        My breath fogged the glass up to my nose.
        The world, to me, went mute and still
        As I looked into, not at, my eyes
        For the first time in far too many years.
        There, past the wrinkles, beneath the
        Bitterness, behind the tears
        That began to brim. . . I saw her.
        She was still in attendance, after all;
        That little girl I used to be,
        Who stuck out her chin and stood tall,
        Not slumped with hardship, as I am now.
        I put out my hand to touch the glass,
        Inviting her to play, but she was locked inside;
        A piece of me, a fragment of the past.
        She'd be forfeit if I dared blink.
        I could do naught but stare and stand
        There at the mirror, scrub brush
        Forgotten and tumbled from my hand
        Like some discarded toy.


        3-10-98
        9:36 p.m.

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