Open Poetry #12 |
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Stranger in the Mirror |
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Elizabeth Santos Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269Pennsylvania ![]() |
Stranger in the Mirror I had a dream so frightful and bizarre That made me tremble in the dark of night From starry skies observing from afar An opal moon, a witness to my plight Shown through my window beams of ghostly light I dreamed I gazed into my looking glass But it did not reflect my hands or face Instead it cast back deeds and thoughts that pass Through someone’s heart and mind, in mirrored space I could not well detect the stranger's face Aloud I asked the moon who this could be So greedy and impoverished a soul Who never thought to give to those in need And only sought to conquer selfish goals So sad a figure each night to behold There inside the looking glass were scrolled All the utterances that he had made Unkind remarks and lies that he had told And debts to mankind he had never paid This empty ghost in nightmare glass displayed Will this strange phantom haunt me to my death? In looking glass a poor soul full of sin A faceless image in the mirrors depth A person looking at himself within The vision of a spirit growing thin Night after night the phantom reappeared And I’d awake in glows of silvery moon Who watched in sympathy the image feared Within my looking glass across the room And we would both its ghastly form consume Oh, midnight moon, please tell who you suspect Could be the one who through my dreams have passed The moon said mirrors only can reflect The one who stands before the looking glass The phantom’s name to me was known at last I then arose and stood before the glass And there before me was my inner self A sinful soul now naked and unmasked The true, the very image of myself Void of love, life’s only honored wealth At dawn in brilliant radiance of the sun I gazed again into the mirrored glass And saw the greedy person I’d become The frightful phantom was exposed at last A stranger in the mirror, my own cast Elizabeth Santos |
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© Copyright 2001 Elizabeth Santos - All Rights Reserved | |||
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Only those that know you, sweet Lady Santos, know this to be fiction....a chilling write, one to heed....for those who only live for greed.... |
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Lone Wolf Member Ascendant
since 2000-03-16
Posts 5842Lansing, MI USA |
Haunting and intruguing poem, Elizabeth. Excellent moral buried within though. Very well written. ![]() Lone Wolf Poetry should surprise by fine excess...it should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts and appear almost a remembrance. -J.Keats |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Excellent expression, Elizabeth. I think we can all look within and see horrors that would surprise and terrify...most prefer not to look, for that reason...the human condition, to be sure, is not a pretty picture. You have expressed it very well, indeed. |
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Meadowmuse Member Elite
since 1999-12-27
Posts 3263 |
Masterful, Liz. Thanks for this. (o: Claire Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?......Henry David Thoreau |
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Mysteria![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
Some wonderful advise and insight given in this poem. I think I shall as usual take stock of what I see in my own looking glass. A great reminder to look at ourselves in relation to who we are not what we possess or project ourselves as. Loved it! |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Liz, this poem has every ingredient that exists to make a poem truly great...what a magnificent work you have written here...loud applause here |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Liz--superbly crafted and thoughtfully written. |
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Trillium![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
since 2001-03-09
Posts 12098Idaho, USA |
This is wonderful Elizabeth! I can't believe though, that you ever saw anything so frightening in your mirror. Betty Lou Hebert |
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