I'm always looking through the glass,
Never close enough to touch,
Only far enough to see.
I want to reach out to you.
I want to help you.
I want to tell you it's okay,
That you can do better,
But I'm trapped on this side of the glass .
You hiss at me from the other side,
"Stop. Don't waste your time.
Look at you. Do you see yourself?"
And I take a second to glance,
To look myself over.
"Can't you see I want to help you?
Can't you see what's in front of you?
I know how to help you escape."
I pause.
Sucking in a breath, I wonder aloud,
if it's fair for me to escape.
I've got a family. I have a life to live,
People to help.
"You've got none of that. You're worthless, hopeless, a wandering fool in over her head."
My muscles tense up, and every word stings like a demented wasp.
I throw my fist against the glass and my forehead hits the cool metal bar running down the side of the frame.
'Who are you to tell me I can't? Why do you torment me the way you do when you know nothing about you?'
" I know nothing about you?"
The cold laugh echoes in my head,
Ringing in my ears,
The terrible scream of a whisper shakes again,
" I'm everything you love, everything you hate. I drive you, I control you. I'm your motivations, your conscience, your moral compass. I'm the way you overthink your problems, the way you see yourself in the mornings when you step on the scale. You're a fool, and I know, and you know, because you know that I am yo-"
I slam my fist again, shattering the mirror.
I am her.
The face, taunting me in the mirror.
I'm no-one, and everyone.
I'm nothing and everything,
I am myself, and she, is still me.
