“reflections”

reflections


the mirror is a two sided coin
showing me, as i dress
(up, like the girl i'm not)

but this parody
of someone else's woman
isn't all i don't want to see

behind my lipstick
up-do, pearls
lurk worse things
than prostitution

the shadow watching over my shoulder
spares sardonic sartorial remarks.
it knows where i sleep,
where my children sleep

and i, i am half grateful
for my knowledge
for the dirt beneath my nails
my impatience
and the inelegant wobble
of my heels

half wishing it all away
so what i see in darkness
i could call a nightmare
so i could pin diamonds
without seeing blood 

Mairi Graham-Shaw
© 2012

Image links to its source
Porträt von Wally (1912): Egon Schiele – Wiki Commons – public domain