Born Among Mirrors

i was born among mirrors,

eyes closed

screaming into the face of the world

screaming at myself, first

and as i grew
i learned 

that to truly see myself,

(not through the dark glass

not in the reverse)

i must keep my eyes closed tightly

feeling my way through the world with fingertips

 everything that i touched was cold
the world was without form, and void

i had no concept of dimension

until one day

the brilliance of the sun

lit up my closed lids

and i turned my face toward the light

the sudden warmth,

the glow

made me grieve for all that i had missed

with my shut eyes

i swung out my fist in anger,

that the light was so long denied me
that i had denied myself

the mirrors around me shattered

into a thousand shrieking shards

but it was finally safe to open my eyes

and i see myself more clearly
these days

in those imperfect, fragments of mirror

than i ever could have
                               in the whole ones