I wrote a poem tonight at my verbal alchemy group.

The writing prompt was “ I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never at the mirror.” Tell me what you think?

Mirror mirror on the wall

Who put you up? I hope you fall.

Crash to the ground and shatter

A million pieces of my ego scatter

Cutting into me as they pass by my bare skin

Leaving me pain

Leaving me with a mess to clean up

Piece by piece I pick you up

Carefully placing you in a bucket

Every last piece must go

The day is bright and full of sunshine

I go outside to feel the warmth

Staring into the sun until I’m blinded

Wanting to open my eyes to a new life

I carry you down to the Lakeside

You jiggle around making sounds of disagreement

You don’t want to go

You didn’t mean to fall and shatter

I sit on the end of the break wall far away from shore

Picking up each piece of you carefully

Gazing and remembering

Then I tossed that piece of you into the lake

Until I’ve gone through every piece

You now belong to the lake waves

You will tumble and churn

Polishing and smoothing your sharp edges

Reshaping you

For years

Until one day those pieces find their way to the shore

Smooth, soft, shiny, polished

You wait in the sunlight

Someone comes along and catches your reflection

They pick you up, cherishing you like a treasure

Knowing nothing of your past

Seeing you for the beautiful treasure, you’ve become

Holding you up to the sunlight, making you sparkle

The broken pieces of my ego

Happiness for someone who needs it

Turning something dark and feared

A reflection of who I once was

into a gift to be hung in a wind chime made of lake shells and glass

Forever, catching a breeze and making someone smile .