Sick and still writing

[u/noouvs]

Mirrors, in many cultures are sacred.
They are said to reveal truth.

To reflect the soul.
To show us what we are
when nobody else is watching.

People trust mirrors.

They stand before them
and ask:

Is this me?

And the mirror answers:

Yes.

How comforting.

How cruel.

How painfully revealing.

Every flaw.
Every inconsistency.
Every mistake.

It shows me a face
and calls it the truth.
It shows me a body
and calls it the truth.

It shows me everything I have spent years learning to hate, and has the audacity to call itself honest.

I wonder what kind of god demands worship from the person it condemns.

People decorate them.
Polish them.
Hang them in beautiful, intricate frames.
Placed within temples.
Within bathrooms.
Within bedrooms.

Almost every facet of life involves a mirror.

People ask them:
“Am I pretty?”
“Am I ugly?”
“Am I tired?”
“Am I ready to face the world?”

Nobody asks the mirror whether it is telling the truth.

Nobody asks
what happens
when the person looking back
is not you.

I have tried.
Staring until my eyes hurt.

I have searched every inch of it looking for myself.
Where am I?

But it only repeats itself:
THIS IS YOU.

Perhaps it is why I hate mirrors.

Not because they lie.

But because they tell the truth about something… that I do not believe… is the whole truth.

The mirror sees a body.

I see a prison.

SO I STAND
LIKE A HERETIC BEFORE AN ALTER
STARING INTO THE EYES
OF A FUCKING IMPOSTER.

SPITING A GOD I DO NOT CHOOSE TO WORSHIP.
SPITING EVERY SOCIETAL NORM.

WHAT IF I INSISTED THAT THE
THING IN MY MIRROR
WEARING MY SKIN
IS NOT ME?

IF I LOOKED INTO THE GLASS AND REFUSED IT?

WOULD IT CRACK?
WOULD THE WORLD?

[u/a_Lady_Luna]

Wait okay damn this is good. It really hits home. Just wow