Mirror Image

This is kind of a weird set up. I wrote most of it over a year ago when I spent way too much time analyzing reflections and how people present themselves.

Mirror Image

What do people expect of teenagers

We live, we sometimes die, some of us are rebels--

Others,

"Goodie two shoes."

 

But is it not true that we are all different?

Why does everyone assume they understand;

They do not live our exact lives,

They were not present when_____ fill in the blank.

They do not know what goes on inside--

Especially if you are me

Because I have made it my goal

To hide my feelings.

 

My pain is hard to bear

The only thing I have to fear is that I am alive.

I wish to die everyday,

It does not matter why,

I have tried and failed every time.

 

I come from fighters

But I can fight no more;

My mother is strong

But my strength has been weakened.

 

Who am I?  I am a teen.

No one knows my thoughts and feelings--

I keep them locked away.

When you see me walking by,

You cannot see the pain within.

 

I am seen as a short, perfect, goodie two shoes.

Should not those be the ones you worry the most about?

I am generalized into a category;

I may fit in some places, but not all.

 

Others see my mask,

They think I kid when I say I want to die.

They do not see past the mask they have built for me.

I reflect what they want to see;

They want to see me happy and perfect,

And their expectation, I am happy to supply.

It makes me feel safe,

But I still cry myself to sleep every night.

 

If you could see me for me

With my heart on my sleeve,

Would you treat me the same?

Would you be able to still look at me

With feigned ignorance--

Never pity?

 

I feel like crumbling;

I feel like falling;

 

I feel like dying;

Do you still see me the same?

 

Maybe one day you will not see this opaque mirror

Staring back at you;

But I fear that day will only be

When my fear is quenched.

Reviews

[Ron]

This anguished teenage poem shows the writer has been well brought up and is coming along just perfectly!