Tale Of Mirrors Poem by Lakshmi Sreedharan

Once, on a bright sunny day,
A lady walked into my store.
Oh yes, my store of crystals and mirrors.
A lady well dressed,
In her late 30s I suppose.

I got to business,
“Yes ma’am, how can I help you? ”
“I would like too see some mirrors,
The finest ones of course! ” said the lady.
As asked for I went around my store
And put forward,
Two of the finest mirrors I had.

I displayed the first one,
‘‘Mirror of Egypt ma’am,
Well crafted as you can see.”
She took a good look of herself
In the mirror and said
-“Not right! Not right!
Can’t you see?
It’s not showing the glow of my skin! ”

Quite confused, I moved on
And put forth the second one.
“Mirror of Belgium, ma’am,
The best one in the world! ”
Once again she looked at herself,
“ Never! No! This one,
Is showing wrinkles on my face! ”

I stood there, not knowing what to say.
And she began –
“What store is this?
And the mirrors you have?
Finest you call them?
Finest indeed!
She walked away in rage

I did not utter a word,
I didn’t have the heart to tell her,
My mirrors never lied,
Her beauty was being washed away,
Away with age by time.

Before moving on with my business,
I thought –
‘Does beauty matter so much?
Which one is greater?
Beauty of the face or beauty of the soul?
Yes, A beautiful soul indeed!

The owner of a beautiful soul,
Can conquer many a beautiful faces…………..