I look in the mirror at a face that isn’t mine
The reflection of someone I don’t want to be
It’s what people see when they look in my eye
And I cannot tell them that girl isn’t me.

She’s just a mask I liked to hide behind
A mirror I used to twist and tilt myself
To show only the shadows and shades of my mind
And the rest of me stayed on an old covered shelf.

But now I scorn and I scowl at that face in the glass
I decide I must change it to fit my inside
So the world will know that my sorrows have passed
That I’m ready to show the feelings I hide

The girl in the mirror shakes her head and frowns
And says I don’t know the truth from what’s just a sham
That I can’t tell what’s real from what’s upside down
And she’s right, I don’t even know who I am.

But no longer can I stare at my own deceitful face
There’s nothing left to do but meet the ultimate test
I must turn away from this mirror I created in my place
And find the real me that’s been lost in the mess.

In anger I tear the old glass from the wall
And sneer as it shatters on the cold wooden floor
I’ll find a new reflection and won’t give up till I fall,
For I don’t want to hide from the world anymore

Then the shards on the ground seem to snicker and scoff
I want to get away from it all, I can’t fight this war
But they don’t believe I can just shake them off
So with a deep breath and “goodbye”, I run right out the door.

Once away from the images that have all been a lie,
I find myself in darkness in a world I don’t know
I’m surrounded by shadows and a moonless night sky
Though it had been daylight only moments ago.

Still running from my mirror I stop in the street
Where a young man is standing and waving to me
So I say to this stranger I happen to meet,
When you look in my eye, tell me what do you see?

He holds up a new mirror and begs me to gaze
But now in the glass I see nothing at all
My reflection is gone and I’m lost in a maze,
Searching for myself in this long dead-end hall.

The man looks at me closely and touches my skin
As I stare into his face at eyes rugged and hollow
He traces his finger from my cheek to my chin,
Then he darts into an alley and begs me to follow.

Desperate to solve the endless quest I’ve commenced
I impatiently wonder what this man has to show
I ask, as he leads me to an old battered fence,
Can he possibly tell me what I desire to know?

Yet there’s something about those strange vacant eyes
That tells me they hold more than appearance can find
Once I stare for a while I can recognize
That they aren’t hollow at all, but yearning, as mine

But there’s no time to inquire just what he does seek
For he points to a corner of the fence and the wall
Then he turns back to me but still doesn’t speak,
And in just a moment he’s not there at all.

So in this dismal corner I’m left all alone
Memories of myself now nothing but blurs
I’ve got no reflection and no way to get home
Until, on the ground, I see something that stirs!

Leaning in closer I find it curled up in a heap
A tiny figure, with a face, looking up at me
Then out of the shadows, this thing starts to creep
It frightens me, yes, but I don’t want to flee.

The figure stands up and takes hold of my hand
With recognition a shiver runs right down my spine
I feel I’m finally starting to understand
The eyes that I’m staring at—those eyes were once mine.

From the face I’ve discovered comes a shy, vivid smile
I feel the grin spread from her mouth to my own,
One like I haven’t been able to give for a while
Now I’ve found me again, and I can go home.

I’m not scared to look at my reflection anymore
There’s no fear that I’ll see some vision quite strange
I won’t try to hide from myself like before,
For I know who I am, and I won’t ever change.

 
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