Mirror, Mirror
Mirrored eyes
Aren't mine.
Mirrored mouth
That opens dumbly
Like a phantom,
I destroy you.
In the darkness
Mirror face
Where are you?
Make a pass before the mirror
To dispel reflected terror.
In it place
Another's face.
Let it shrivel up
Before you.
Around this time I was having severe psychological difficulties and the poem is about the desire to become somebody else. I was saved by a replacement teacher at school who had no training (remember this was wartime) except as a shorthand typist. She taught me the Pitman method, which kept me occupied.
Peter John Dean
SourceLicence:CC BY-ND 3.0