Reflections: Poem by David Wood

I am the old ruin on the edge of town.
Once a bright large stately home filled
With gaiety and laughter, with servants
Scurrying around, cleaning, washing, cooking
And children playing in my rooms,
With soft music being played on a piano.

I am the old mirror hanging on a decayed wall.
I am now opaque with dust. People once looked
at me and admired my gilt edges. They used to smile
at what they saw looking back at them.
I was always faithful and true.
Now I am silent, lost in my memories.

I am the old book left on a dusty shelf, now forgotten.
I too am covered in dust and my contents disregarded;
No longer relevant, unwanted. I was once read many times,
But not anymore. My bindings all but broken.
A faded photograph on my front cover.
But now I sit and wait, and wait, and wait.

I am a mirror that waited until one day somebody
looked in me again and I felt the cobwebs begin to
blow away. They looked, not with a monotonous
languor but with interest. They were refreshing,
Enchanting, but they went away, and I am left, alone.
Alone. Alone, lost in my thoughts.