Through the looking glass

I took the wrong pill...

There it hangs, on the wall;

Large and grey and ten feet tall.

Mocking me, Calling me to it

Beckoning me..with candle lit

I-with trepidation step

Towards my fate, in here it’s kept.

�"�"

Mirror mirror on the wall,

Please tell me I’m not all that small

and insignificant, as my reflection

I smile at myself, it’s an optical illusion.

It must be, my reflection stumbles

In this half light, reality crumbles.

�"-

And so I reach a trembling finger,

caressing the glass, I stare and linger,

As my hand is swallowed in liquid silver

The glass ripples like the bank of a river.

Frowning, candle in hand, I take a leap

Believing myself to be asleep.

�"-

It’s through the looking glass I go,

Into the unknown, where wild rivers flow

roaring water reverborating,

I stand, silently, hesitating.

Afraid to move forward, I can’t go back

Cursing myself for the confidence I lack.

�"�"

Taking stock of my new situation,

The looking glass gone, I hunt for information,

Following a path, that disappears

Which way to go? Should I face my fears?

Take a step into the new world that’s welcomed me?

Or stay here trapped and lonely?

�"-

My candle flickers, and silently dies,

I see the world with brand new eyes.

Shaking my head I soldier forward,

Raising my eyes and looking skyward.

I’m no Alice, this is reality,

I’m a survivor; I leave there my frailty.

x

Author's Note

This is what being out of work reduces me to!

Reviews

[Dinesh Sairam]

A different subject to write on. You have painted a grand picture, which divides the real world from the surreal world. I can very well imagine myself going into a mirror and ending up in a dreamy, fluttering world. But, you didn't picture yourself 'coming out of the mirror', well, that's ok. I liked the way you express yourself as brand new, ready-to-lead after you come of the mirror (Or so I assume). Another good piece of art from you. I request you to write more and more different poems.

I'm sorry if it pricks you, but this reminded me of a famous poem (From my grade school..lol) and I just couldn't resist myself from posting it with this review.

"I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful --
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish."

~ Mirrors by Sylvia Plath.

[Desert Dreamer]

There is a fine line between the reality we usually see and the world of dreams (or an altered state of consciousness). This poem reminds me of when I was younger, I used to walk and talk in my sleep...I'd get reality and dreams confused and saw things at night that don't exist in reality. I still have a clear memory of seeing creatures in the hallway and my bedroom at night, thinking I was awake, but knowing now that I must have been sleeping. My advice is this, if it happens again, face your fears and step into the mirror and into the new world.

This is a very well written peom and draws the reader into your alternate reality.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

I love the six-line, aabbcc stanza! It's amazing how fluid the poem reads with the couplets without the rhymes just jumping off the screen at you. To be honest, I hardly noticed the rhymes, so well written was your work. You may be out of a paying job, but a poem like this definitely takes work. More than work, it takes passion and creativity. Your words stroll across the screen as gently as bare feet through a meadow.

I love it!

Linda Marie

[Richard Williams]

The flow and phrasing of this fine poem is wonderful. A line like, "As my hand is swallowed in liquid silver" is exceptional.

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

oh you did pull me through the looking gass with you and how enhralled you caught my mind where at the end~ those last few lines had me mentaly screaming cheers of joy for the freedom and salvation at the end~exquisite!~

[FlawedByDesign]

The same way eyes are windows to the soul, the mirror reflects our true selves. I can now imagine why some people don't like what they see in the mirror. It is not who they would like to see. You've described this nicely with,
"Into the unknown, where wild rivers flow
roaring water reverberating,"

You've described a valid inner struggle and I'm glad you're coming out a winner saying, "I’m no Alice, this is reality,
I’m a survivor; I leave there my frailty."

Good job.

[StacyPerry]

Very well written. You can interpret this so many ways.

[R E Tree]

The words you have used in this is incredible it works well creating a beautiful flow. The reader feels welcomed into your imagination. What ever is in your mind the reader feels welcomed to. You see a mirror and you explain it so clearly so the reader doesn't after read lines over and over again. This is straight forward to understand. Everyone is different so people will have different views on life and what path to take. You express your fears well and you make the reader feel they are in the mirror with you. I think you should take the path and make the decisions what you feel is right. This is a clever, well thought of poem