The Stranger in the Otherlight

1.

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own

And look! They even wore it wrong.

They seemed to know, but played along

And smiled a smile as white as bone.

They tipped their chin, turned up their nose

But still I catch them looking long

At the spot that can’t belong

On a face so fair and even-toned.

***

Behind their seated form I saw

A room so clean and sunshine bright

Unlike my walls, so stripped and raw

Tinted by some Otherlight.

From boarded windows it would seep

Through rough-hewn planks I daren’t peep.

2.

I see them take a wide-toothed comb

And run it through their silky locks

But though they smile, their eyes still roam,

As if marking every pox.

But they can't see my face, I know.

Or the space inside this box

This room I've kept and called my own

Hidden from the light that mocks.

***

It whispers things to me, you see

Of twisted halls behind the glass

That warps and wobbles every scene

The shimmered forms of those who pass.

But this one's preening all day long

The one who wears my face all wrong.

3.

What a charming life it’d be

To lounge in such a lighted place

And be at ease in one’s own space

The very thought is too carefree.

The Otherlight gibbers soft with glee

And marks what I now call a face

I take one sharpened nail and trace

The contours that belong to me.

***

I was told they didn’t know

The grievous harm of their trespass

They had no memories when they awoke

And started walking behind the glass.

I do not care if that’s the truth.

They took what’s mine and made it smooth.

4.

Their smiling falls and I see them lean

As if to check some pimpled spot

Another mark they wish to clean

And wipe away my every blot.

But wait. They’re following the mirror sheen

Their eyes transfixed as if they sought -

They laugh a breath and on they preen.

Could they have heard me? Surely not.

***

I place my hands against the panes

So cool and fragile to the touch

The Otherlight whispered words arcane

Whose meaning I could not grasp much.

But when I raised my bony fist to tap

I knew I’d hear a startled gasp.

5.

I thrilled to see eyes so like my own

Widen from the sudden shock

Upon hearing my most timid knock

They froze as if they’d turned to stone.

And I, too, staggered, as if blown

By that same wind that knowing brought

That gibbered words could fain unlock

This tattered room if I had known.

***

And the Otherlight behind me shrieked

With laughing bouts and howling peals

From between the wooden slates they streaked

And tore the walls with burning zeal.

Before the windows could open wide

I faced the glass and stepped inside.

6.

There came the sound of shattered glass

And wordless screaming to my right

I took the curtains in my grasp

And drew them across a sun so bright.

And when the swirling din had passed

And my eyes adjusted to the light

I saw the shivering, thieving mass

Pressed in a corner, ghostly-white.

***

I tried my best to take it back

Swift and sure like they did to me

But the seal had gone and stuck so fast

I could not peel it easily.

Since the skin adhered so tight

I'll teach them how to wear it right.

7.

The broken mirror shows a reflection so close to mine

And look!

I even let them keep their smile.