Shattered Mirrors
People can be seen as mirrors.
I am intimidating
Because I am one of the only mirrors
That is not shattered.
Most people have shattered
The undesired parts of themselves
With the hammer of denial.
When two shattered mirrors face each other,
The reflection they see of themselves
Is extremely distorted.
They see only the good in themselves
Because they do not know
What they truly look like.
When a shattered mirror faces an unshattered mirror,
The shattered mirror gets scared.
It hates what it sees.
It sees how hideous and broken it truly is.
So, it runs away.
It begins to shatter itself even more
And avoids the unshattered mirrors
At all costs.
That’s why I am so alone.
I see all around me
The shards of what used to be.
They attempt to cut into me
Until I too become shattered.
It is painful, but
I must remain intact.
I continue to be alone
For self-preservation.
I am forced to face these shattered mirrors every day.
Their reflections often attempt
To distort me.
The sheer number of fragments
Amplifies the distortion;
I remain alone
So that I won’t lose myself
Amongst the shards.
When an unshattered mirror faces another unshattered mirror, they gaze into the infinite pathway before them. They see a clear image in a shattered world. They find the way forward in each other. Merely facing each other gives them hope. It dissolves the world around them and they finally find relief.
It seldom lasts. In a sea of shards, eventually one starts to sink. They shred the mirror in their jagged depths. What comes back to the surface has been eviscerated. The remaining unshattered mirror searches for its last hope. Its attempts are in vain. What it once knew is all around it, indistinguishable from all the others. And so, the unshattered mirror floats on; forever stabbed, but still unbroken. It will find other unshattered mirrors, but ultimately, they will just make its wounds hurt more. It will likely become shattered as well. At that point, hope dies. Their broken world will continue on forever.
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