I Saw Time Through a Mirror

I saw time through a mirror.

It startled me as I peeked,

a sudden tremor of recognition

I thought I wasn't ready to meet.

I saw the eyes of my mother

staring back into her own,

tired, yet steady with quiet will ~

a smirk that said she'd grown.

How strange that a mirror reflects

with no mask, no disguise

not a polished or perfect illusion,

but the truth within our eyes.

The glass does not condemn us;

it carries what we've been,

the laughter, the sorrow, the trials ~

all the places we have seen.

Once I feared what waited,

the shadows meant for me,

but now I see the mirror holds

the proof that I endure.

To hide is not protection,

to turn away is loss ~

for every line upon my face

is a bridge that I have crossed.

So I claim what I have lived,

each mark, each shining scar ~

I face the mirror boldly,

and I know exactly who I am.

Living Two Lives

I walk this earth divided,

bound to chapters I never chose.

In one life,

iron chains drag across my spine,

pressing me lower,

step by shattered step.

My sight clouds,

my body groans,

each breath a burden I cannot set down.

But when sleep claims me,

I awaken elsewhere.

There, I rise unbroken ~

weightless, unbound.

I soar above horizons,

my eyes drinking miles of light.

I sing to the newborn Sun,

my voice a hymn of freedom,

my soul blazing tall.

Two lives ~

one suffocated in silence,

one burning in song.

And every dawn,

I wonder which of them

is truly mine.