I am a mirror,
Seeing others but none seeing me.
Few tears do I allow to escape my eyes;
If I did, they would fall like icicles
Melting as spring arrives. Instead
From my self-made prison, I grieve
At Life’s vibrancy swirling around me;
And I stand silent.
I am a mirror;
My friends confide, gazing at themselves
While sharing their shadowed secrets,
Tortured traumas, and tidal tears with me --
Emotions like glass ready to shatter,
My fragile feelings folded and locked
Inside as I never have a chance to speak;
And I stand silent.
I am a mirror,
Hearing echoes of my fists pounding
Glass greeting us with gaps and cracks.
I yet try to take troubles away, stay tied
To them. Besides growing loneliness,
An empty pit swells in my chest as I watch
Their silent surrender to sinister shadows;
And I stand silent.
Nina Pursai, a senior at Notre Dame High School San Jose, loves family, poetry, and five pets. She hopes to become an environmental scientist, but never will abandon the written word. Already, she and two associates have a successful children’s book to their credit, inspiring youth to become Earth’s environmental stewards. Her in depth study of poetry at a private institute has helped her grow as a writer with a number of awards and publications, even in adult literary journals. Her publications include multiple organizations in seven states for her poetry and nationwide for her best-selling book, Sheldon, Your Shell.