And Still

There is a mirror Beyond a woman's heart Beyond the image of man (Beyond your wife and father) That shows you Who you are and always were Once upon a time and still And still The mirror can be The surface of the calmest Inland Sea Of white time Which moves so quickly It appears to stop and still Reflections Reflections Of a lifetime met Since highchairs became Stares across the dinner table Now appearing in your shaving mirror Each morning Are not you But touch and word and play Reflections of Eyes of others Eyes of others Re-presenting you to you As they see and feel And hear and move you As reflections of THEIR selves Your mother's son. your father's son, your son's father Your sister's brother, your brother's keeper Keeping in these echoes THEIR identities Folded in the surround protected from The shattering The shattering The mirror can be Of illusion of force and ceremony Of bonds and chains and 'sposed-to -bes Images of custom fractured Rank and riches crown and king fall to Nothing Nothing Scattered ashes on the waves And ripples of time beyond you Who you are and always were Once upon a time and still