Reflection !!

I look at you, my dear reflection

And wonder where you are today

What happened to the girl you were?

You used to laugh and sing and play


Has too much time gone by for you?

Have the burdens of life finally silenced your song?

There was a time when it was all okay

A time when things weren't quite so wrong



You used to live life without a care

Now it seems as though life is living you

You seem so withdrawn from the world around

Not knowing where to go or what to do



The lines of time are etched on your brow

The downturn of your lips has hardened your grin

The fire in your eyes has dulled to ash

The loss of your confidence has lowered your chin



Now when you laugh the sound comes out hollow

The flash of your smile is more and more rare

So weak is the laughter, so quick is the smile

It leads me to wonder if it even was there



More often than not I catch you sitting and staring

Your mind off in a world you alone understand

Welcoming no one to join in your thoughts

Turning away from every outstretched hand



You seem almost unable to hold back the tears

Yet completely unwilling to just let them flow

So tired and broken from trying to hang on

Yet determined to never just let yourself go



The loneliness has crept deep into your soul

From always trying to do it alone

Pushing away those who love you the most

Forcing your heart to harden like stone



I know how much you want to change

How you wish you could just reach out your hand

I know how scared you are to trust

How scared you are that they won't understand



It's never easy, letting others in

But sometimes it's just what you have to do

Sometimes life is more than anyone can take

Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew



I'd help you open up, but keep in mind

It's something I've never been able to do

After all, you are just a reflection of me

And I am nothing more than a reflection of you.

Once Upon a Time Son....Thanks to Gabriel Okara..

Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts

and laugh with their eyes:

but now they only laugh with their teeth,

while their ice-block-cold eyes

search behind my shadow.


There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts:

but that’s gone, son.

Now they shake hands without hearts:

while their left hands search

my empty pockets.


‘Feel at home’! ‘Come again’:

they say, and when I come

again and feel

at home, once, twice,

there will be no thrice –

for then I find doors shut on me.


So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces

like dresses – homeface,

officeface, streetface, hostface,

cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles

like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth

and shake hands without my heart.

I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye’,

when I mean ‘Good-riddance’;

to say ‘Glad to meet you’,

without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been

nice talking to you’, after being bored.


But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be

when I was like you. I want

to unlearn all these muting things.

Most of all, I want to relearn

how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror

shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!


So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how

I used to laugh and smile

once upon a time when I was like you.