Mirror Mirror

“Mirror, mirror upon the wall. . . ?”

Petition all my willing thrall

With fevered minds and hearts a chill

I’ll never tell you how you feel

My backwards world I long to show

I’ll tell you not the things you know

Not right or wrong, nor black or white

With polished gray your souls benight

My empty frame you would consult

This shallow pane, a bridge-less gulf

Reach out to touch the self you see

A barrier to reality

Thus, from the soul I separate

Light from its source, self from its state

This riddle of identity

Lies in the I of lies eyes see

The vain, the poor, the insecure

Seek competition is as a cure

Seduced by looks, deranged by wealth

Forsaking truth, estranged from self

So round and round they chase the tail

To find themselves to no avail

This bitterness of tangled mind

Discards the fruit, and eats the rind

Reflections of the inner light

Arise in mind, and mine in sight

The lost, the sad, unwitting all

Bid, “Mirror, Mirror upon the wall . . . ?”