True Image

My mirror is funny, just hanging there

Because everyday I see,

Another person in that glass

Staring back at me

Every day it changes,

Or maybe just once a week,

But in all these years I have yet to find

The person that I seek

Sometimes it's someone lonely

Someone tired and drab

Rarely I see the beauty

Lurking beneath life's ugly scab

I know myself, all too well

To be fooled by makeup's glow

I know the thoughts within my heart

And the doubt and worry show

I ask my husband what he sees

And he holds up his own mirror

And I see someone radiant and strong

And it's something that I fear

Because I don't think that can be true

That picture he has of me

And I can only hope and pray

He never knows what I see

I ask my dad and he just laughs

Although he loves me so

He sees someone snarky and so snide

And I just want to go

There was a time, I will admit

That I wasn't very kind

And so his picture is not wrong

And I want to run and hide

My mother, kind and oh so wise

Holds up a mirror too

And I see a friend, the grown up girl

Who struggled and made it through

She knows me well, knows my life

But still I don't believe

The image that is staring back-

It's too good to conceive

My friends, if I can call them that

(Because how could they like me?)

See someone funny, outgoing, and good

As if I'm light and free

It's a mask, I see in there

The mirror they hold up

Something I use to charm them all

To sit with them and sup

My daughter's is the best of all,

Or perhaps it is the worst

Because she sees her whole wide world

In her affection, I am first

I am everything she needs,

And everything she wants

And it scares me that she trusts me so

The responsibility haunts

I look at my mirror and then compare

With the others that I see

And I wonder just which one reflects

The true image that is me

Perhaps it is all or none at once

Those images reflecting round

But if I work on myself each day

A good one will be found

A little kinder I will be

To others that I meet

A little more open with my love

To the daughter at my feet

I'll try to be braver, stronger, true

To the values I hold dear

And perhaps one day I'll shape myself

To an image, sharp and clear

An image I can behold with grace,

Believing that it's real

When I allow the scars of life

To cover and to heal

Because it's glass, and not in stone

Where my image now is set

My true self still has time to grow

I'll take every chance I get

So don't look now at my mirror

No matter what you see

Because one day I'll get it right

And find the real me