[ CC ] The Mirror Stained

      
oxidized      
     
leaving me paned      
with knowing      
     
no matter how much      
I have apologized      
been forgiven      
forgave myself      
     
memories persist      
     
Memoirs of personal past      
clouding judgement of who      
we are in the present tense      
     
---such can't be wiped away      
with a heavy handed      
fist to reflection's glass        
     
If only perceptions      
shattered that easily      
     
or could be scrubbed  
clean      
     
Slate's  
green grass outside the fence      
merely witness protection      
programmed television      
fairy tales you've seen      
since childhood      
     
It's not the first time---     
happens quite often;     
notions it won't be the last      
are where I truly feel pained      
----anxieties steal the show      
shit gets real real fast      
when dwelling in a con      
damnation for too long      
     
Quicksilvered existence      
quickly becomes quicksand;        
easily mired down in, difficult      
to extract one's self from      
and rise above      
sums of all fear      
     
I hope to in my lifetime      
     
Until then      
through no one's fault      
but my own      
     
polishing my mirror      
runs the risk of      
this skin I'm in      
being rubbed      
raw      
to      
the      
bone