I do not look at me

I do not look at me

In the mirror much these days.

This bald pate,

This fleshy, swarthy face

Except to brush teeth

And the vexing necessity to shave.

I do not see me in the mirror

Just the yellowing teeth

And the graying stubble.

I do not need a mirror anymore

Having seen me for

Half a century and more.

I know me well enough.

But the occasional glimpse -

When my eyes meet my eyes-

Tired, watery, dead -

He asks me silently, ‘Why?

Why did you let life

Slip away?’