Mirror Image

Execupundit.com: Sit Down and Take a Look at Your Oldest and Most Unfair Critic. Execupundit really has me thinking today. This post about the critic in the mirror made me think about this poem, written while I was in the throes of recognizing the aging process:

MIRROR IMAGE

The image in the mirror taunted him 

judged him 

focused on him. 

He turned away 

Sideways he saw a bulging stomach

where once a maiden’s gaze looked longingly.

His tired face

sagged in all the wrong places 

and the once straight shoulders

were bent from years of striving.

He turned to face the image.

looked deep into the eyes.

They were supposed to be a window through which he could see a spirit 

knowing that,  by definition,  it would be unseen.

Would the years betray him? 

Would the early morning staggering to the mirror slow his steady pace to knowing himself?

By the time he knew 

would it be too late for his body to answer his call?

Would the mirror laugh?