Reach Above and Beyond

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

Why do I even bother,

To check my reflection at all?

I can only distinguish,

The things I hate about myself.

I don't know why I create my own anguish,

And castigate myself for the things,

That I should have done.

Why, oh, why?

Have my fears won?

What is this insecurity,

That emerges from deep within.

What happened to you pride, confidence, and rationality?

Have you decided to abandon me,

At the time I needed you the most.

I know I may be a lost cause,

But please don't leave me, tied to this post,

Hopeless and useless to defend myself,

Against my demons beating me,

All alone, unable to flee.

Hope,

As swift as you might,

Attempt to come to my rescue,

In my own inner fight,

I know that your comfort,

Is only a temporary refuge.

So, why do I welcome you,

With open arms,

When I know that in the end,

You, yourself, will cause more harm.

So here I stand,

Staring at my own reflection,

Only able to think,

To only perceive my imperfections,

And my heart sinks.

A skeleton of my former self,

Is what I see,

That isn't the true person,

Who I want to be.

So, why do I follow the path,

That society forces upon us,

Is it my own desire to follow the crowd,

Or is it because of the fuss,

And the ruckus that would be made,

If I didn't follow,

What they bade.

I don't want to be at their every beckon,

And at their every call,

For what they demand,

Makes me their puppet, their doll.

Stop pulling these strings,

And making me do your dirty deeds,

For I am sick and tired of what I have become,

So, please hear my desperate plead.

I don't want to be another someone,

Another person who lives in the shadows,

Forever trapped in this endless cycle,

Of fakeness and temporary self-gratification,

That you seem to focus on so much.

Can't you focus, for once, not on what you want,

But rather, what you really need?

Forgive me for being frank,

To myself for once,

For I'll never know again,

If I am able to express such feelings freely anymore,

I guess this is my last chance,

Before they finally shut the door.

They may try to strip me of my voice,

Bury the truth under their web of lies,

But I will not let them choose my choice,

I will not let my will or freedom die.

Mirror, Mirror, on my wall,

I don't care about my reflection,

Anymore, at all.

I know that it projects an image,

The one that society wants.

It's something superficial,

Something that won't haunt,

Me anymore.

For I finally know the truth,

My image is not something that I must abhor,

Because it's not what they want.

For I am my own person,

I am who I am meant to be.

Realizing the truth,

Has finally set me free.