A mirror is a weapon as sharp as shattered glass.
It’s as cold as ice, but melts twice as fast.
It stings like sand and the bloody fist that beats.
I plough forward as my reflection retreats.
Do you suppose that Sisyphus might still believe
At the top of that hill, he’ll find relief?
My friend in the mirror, for a moment, clears,
But just a heartache later, and she disappears.
She is a brute with a hideous face,
A haphazard puzzle that misses a piece.
A lone candle that melts and burns away,
But I want to love her, and so I stay.
I tear at my hair and bite my lip ‘till it bleeds,
I rattle with sobs as my wax face heats.
That molten mirror watches with my haunting eyes
Until the day that she solidifies.
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This is such a powerful piece. The struggle to love oneself in this ever judgemental world is a battle we have to fight every day. We are told to look a certain way, behave a certain way, and exist in a certain way. The line "It's as cold as ice, but melts just as fast" tells me of the fragility of the mirror. It reflects everything we dislike about our appearances but can suddenly reflect everything we love about them depending on what is considered 'beautiful' or 'pretty' at the time. The mirror is a fickle friend that only shows us what WE see, not what others see when they look at us. The mirror can only show us what our eyes want to see. Our imperfections. Our flaws. What we think is wrong with ourselves. This is a spectacular take on the poem and I congratulate you for your talent.
Keep writing!
Hello there!
I am NOT reviewing from a point of view where I’d be connecting this to the “Mirror”, I’m reviewing and reading this poem as is. ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
First stanza:
So this stanza is talking about a mirror. (Obviously, heh). But the. It says “but melts just as fast”. To me, that part is talking about the reflection of the person looking into the mirror. If you leave quickly, so does the reflection. Since the stanza is mostly talking about how the mirror can physically hurt you, perhaps you’re saying that seeing your reflection hurts just as bad? That whatever you see in the mirror is not pleasing to you?
Stanza 2:
Ahhh, Sisphyus. I’ve always loved Greek mythology references in poems, but this time it’s refreshing to see something other than Icarus. How perfect that we just discussed Sisphyus’s story in an English course recently. I’ll be honest, I don’t really fully understand the last two lines of this stanza. Is it the mirror that clears up so that you can see the “friend”? Or is it the friend that clears? If the latter, I’m not quite sure what it would mean.
Stanza 3:
My interpretation of this line, in relation to the talk of reflections in the first stanza, is that the character the author writes through is talking about herself. She doesn’t like WHAT she is, but she can’t bring herself to hate herself. She still hopes that one day, she may end up loving who she is.
Stanza 4:
Here, I am very curious about the last line. My assumption is that “she” is the reflection of the person in the mirror. I’m not confident of my interpretation of this, but…
Is the reflection of the main character a “distorted version” of her? That she sees herself worse than she is, and one day that “worse version” becomes actual reality since she kept believing it and believing it?
Or maybe, (this is VERY far-fetched) during the darker days of the person towards the beginning of the poem, the mirror was her only “friend”. Towards the end, she had actual people to support her and care about her, so the mirror “solidified” and became just a normal mirror? Maybe?
Anyways, I really loved your poem. I am unable to spot any areas of improvement according to my level of knowledge. Your teacher should like it to unless you didn’t fully respect what was asked of you.
Amazing work! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
-Cat
Thank you for the review! I liked reading your different interpretations of this piece. You hit the nail on the head with your interpretation in the first and third stanza!
I intended the line about the reflection %u201Cclearing%u201D to be the speakers distorted view of herself lifting momentarily when she%u2019s feeling good, but for her false perceptions to reemerge when she falls back into a bad place.
The last stanza was intended to be read in a more positive light than what you derived, but I actually really like how you interpreted it! (Especially the idea about friends and family taking the place of her fixation on the mirror.) %u201CUntil the day she solidifies%u201D was meant to be an allusion to the previous lines about melting ice and candle wax, which in turn represented her self image distorting itself further. So, %u201CSolidifying%u201D would be the speaker finally seeing herself for who she is.
Thanks again for your review and interpretation!