SHE: Poem 6 – “she fears her reflection” (circa ’85)
she freezes
‘fore the bathroom mirror,
neon shadows tracing every edge,
like a scratched VHS
looping her face,
and she doesn’t press play.
she taps the glass
in jittery bursts,
as if her reflection is
some wild graffitied wall
she can’t decode—totally mystified,
and asking why the image
stares back so hard.
she once rocked
neon lipstick like armour,
now she peeks through slitted lids,
heart thumping
like a boombox on max,
dreading the girl she almost knows.
i watch in puzzled awe,
wondering which side is
the real deal— the gutsy skater
lighting up arcades,
or the girl who flinches
at her own glow?
.