Look into the mirror

a poem by Maryse Saldanha

“Look into the mirror child
What do your eyes see?”
An aged man looks back at me
Wrinkled, bent over, without teeth

Time has worn him down
His beauty has withered away
Yet he smiles back at the world
Content radiates in his face

“Look deep into his eyes
In their depths, what do you see?”
Sorrow and hope flickers in there
But laughter to the world it bares

Often sorrows weigh him down
But laughter never is too far away
Always look beyond the dark
The silver line overshadows the grey

“Look into the mirror child
What do your eyes see?”
A little boy looks back at me
A child frightened and petite

There is curiosity in his eyes
There is much he has not seen
Then swiftly time goes by
Again the aged man I see

“Look into the mirror child
What do your eyes see?”
I see myself in the mirror
Questioning eyes look back at me

The journey has long begun
I move on with the stream
The mirror reflects the world
In it am I, but a being.