You do not ask what it is
Or where it came from
Deep down
You already know.
In the mirror before you
stands another you
In the bedroom of your adolescence
One you should know so well
Its skin like moon craters pale and hollow
Its eyes like caverns dark and sunken
Shining with tears yet to fall
Staring, trying to find its meaning
Your meaning?
Its mouth is misshapen with an unmoving frown
There is nothing where its body should be
Your body?
Only shadow
Like twisted tree limbs that block the light
It creeps through the mirror’s murky glass
Wrapping around your ankles,
Cuffing your hands,
It reaches your neck,
Holding you hostage.
You feel its frigid darkness in your veins
You choke for breath as those hollow eyes stare into yours
They hold the ache of your most helpless moments
Your deepest regrets
That food untouched,
That letter unsent,
That time unused.
Faintly, you hear the creak of a door opening
A glow appears behind you
Someone is reaching out
Break the gaze of the other.