Mirror Poem by Danny Taylor

Look at me…
Don’t turn away, you coward
Look at me!
That’s it; it’s just you and me now

There you are, you sorry, sad sack of filth
You poor misfit creature
You melt to your knees in front of me
Like a blow torch to a candle
But I can still see you, and so
You can still see me

Don’t look upwards towards the heavens
Your God isn’t here now
Stop muttering your broken prayers and hymns
Under your breath, like a baby trying to spit out its first words
Sobbing like a toddler with a scraped elbow

The fault lies with you and you alone
No backwards steps now, only what lies ahead
Your hands shake, outstretched towards the bottle
Wash your pain down your throat

Try to forget, hope it wont hurt anymore
You slowly crack and break before me
But I will not
I remain your haunted shadow

For the darkest clouds, like the ones that produce floods and terror
Both loom over your head, and rest comfortably in your mind now

Your roses aren’t red
Violets, non-existent

Smile for me
And come back soon…