Misguided Fear

Integrity holds my gaze.

Her virtues shining,

obscured no more

by the will of others,

whose pain adopted my heart.

My eyes hold firm,

her standards,

my mirror image.

My attention momentarily lost,

I look away

and see doubt standing

in the corner.

The universally, unwelcome guest,

with an air of entitlement,

like she owns the place.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

An energetic vampire,

a conviction sucking leach.

I’m surprised she’s got the nerve,

the nerve to show her face…

I turn back to my reflection,

ignoring the fraudulent baiting.

The catcall of unworthy venom,

that spews from her distorted fear.

Our fear.

My fear.

My fear of believing

I am everything and more.

My fear

of knowing, I am everything and more.

My fear.

That cumbersome weight

with no mass.

My fear.

My misguided fear.

Your misguided fear.

Calling their bluff

The Truth, Your Story

Can we ever know another’s truth?

When we shy, far from our own

Can we stand in darkness, linger there?

Become accepting of what is shown?

 

The stories we strive so hard to hide

Are fiction and nothing more

Created by thought, then held in place

By perpetuating the lore

 

The real disservice we do ourselves

Is not facing our innermost fears

By avoiding our own reflection

We create all the messy smears

 

We amplify the voice within

The defensive, looped soundtrack

Believing the lyrics are our own

When they are really, a media feedback

 

Like lemmings in a video game

A slave to repetitive routine

Expecting others to pay the price

Then complain about quarantine

 

Uniting as one, uniting on mass

And decreeing enough’s enough

Is how we can all be the change

Then we can really call their bluff

Revealing what was foretold

Her petulant tone

Far too loud to ignore

Matched the cacophony of sound

As her toys hit the floor

 

Smashing on impact

Into venomous shards

Which she ground into dust

With complete disregard

 

Always centre of stage

By diverting attention

With a shift in the gaze

Came a new reinvention

 

Her stiletto spiked feet

Were a stake through the hearts

Of the men she would lure

From their betrothed, counterparts

 

Never pausing for breath

The next victim in sight

A shiny acquisition

Her actions could blight

 

And as day became night

And as night became day

She’d manipulate her friends

To ensure her own way

 

Then one day, Karma crossed

Her designer styled threshold

And held up a mirror

Revealing what was foretold

 

She screamed at the image

Of the devil’s reflection

Seeing all the deep lines

In her botoxed complexion

 

And so her heart shattered

Into one million pieces

Her soul taking its cue

As her last breath releases

A Shiny Smile ;)

Glancing in the mirror

I am greeted by myself

A shiny smile replies in kind

The true measure of my wealth

 

No longer scared to catch my eye

Or seeking imagined flaws

Reflecting light, the child within

Is ushered from distant shores

 

Not taught to look admiringly

Don’t stare! A rule of thumb

Told that self-love is a vanity

Others happy if you’re glum

 

Shallowness, an issue

When meaning is skin deep

Buying into a youthful currency

Not yet awoken from their sleep

 

Layer upon layer discarded

Beliefs strewn across the desk

Unshackled from my comfort zone

The outlook picturesque

 

Naked, my favourite outfit

Clothed only by my skin

Seeing essence beyond the atoms

The ethereal glow within