There lies a mirror 

Sitting quietly in a forgotten corner, carefully hidden under a glimmering blue blanket

A mirror, of veracity and valor 

Shining and lustrous 

Cerulean and boundless 

​

Stare into the deep recesses of the insightful glass 

And one will be dazzled by a grandiose, otherworldly place 

Thriving cities and towns of pastel coral and creeping algae 

Highways and jammed lanes of darting fish and gliding turtles 

All lovingly tucked under a shining, watery blanket 

​

Gaze at the majestic waves 

Rashing into solid rock, monotonously and stringently 

The boundless mass of blue 

whom all life owes their lives to 

​

Now there! Is a hint of a smile on your lips 

Hair tousled by the baleful wind 

Ears blessed by the whispers of the tides 

Nose entranced by the salty perfume from the far corners of the world A simply perfect world, no? 

​

Yet as you tentatively flip the flawless mirror 

Noses are pinched, ears are covered, eyes are tightly shut 

For the other side of the dreamy mirror 

Lies a cracked, calamitous, malicious visage 

Merciless and turbulent 

​

Stare into the deep recesses of the foul glass 

And you’ll see a furious, lifeless place 

Graveyards and tombs of a million fallen vessels 

Alleys and backstreets of snarling beasts who bite, poison, and maim All tucked under a stormy-gray, dreary blanket 

​

Shudder at the mountainous waves 

Destroying treasured lives, particle by particle 

In a tumultuous valley of endless, looming water 

As they crash down in a flurry of inky, lonely darkness

​

There lies a mirror 

Sitting quietly in a forgotten corner, carefully hidden under a glimmering blue blanket A mirror, of horrendous tragedy and ecstatic triumph 

Cracked, wrecked, evil, and gleaming, perfect, lustrous 

Veracity and valor thrives on both sides of the ambiguous mirror

Now, which do you dare gaze into?