Sarah's poem opens with a question, "who is this girl?", and the surprise is that the girl is the speaker herself. She looks into a mirror and describes what she sees as if it were someone else: empty eyes, dry lips, tangled hair, a face drained of colour and tear-stained cheeks. Nothing is said outright about why she feels this way, but the signs point to exhaustion and deep sadness. She hasn't slept, hasn't cared for herself, and has been crying.
The speaker feels disconnected from herself, almost numb. Calling herself "poor girl" suggests pity, but from a distance, as though she can't quite own the pain. One detail stands out: the eyes "tell thousands of stories" even though the face shows no emotion, so there is a lot hidden underneath. The final lines, "standing in the mirror / all alone," leave a quiet, lonely mood. The poem feels still and heavy, like a moment of looking and not recognising.