Looking in the mirror, what do I see?

Am I a product of joy or misery?

I am unrecognizable in my age,

like a tattered book with wrinkles on each page.

I’ve lived a long life and still don’t quite know-

Where is my previous self? Where did she go?

Is she staying inside, though I can’t feel her?

These glasses of time like to make things blur.

I stare and stare until I can make more sense

of these eyes that undress me, gaze intense.

These eyes belong to me, ocean blue and bright.

They’ve seen so much time pass, each day and night.

Though I am different, I am much the same

Each of my memories, love, hate, and shame.

I lived many lives, but I’m still me.

A product of both joy and misery.

Editor: Erynn Crittenden