John Anderson Poet Lyric

Notes About The Poem

'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is an 1890 philosophical fiction and Gothic horror novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde - Beauty is Fleeting: By obsessing only over youth and outward perfection, Dorian becomes entirely a shallow shadow. When his physical body evades the consequences of time and sin, he completely loses touch with his humanity. The soul cannot be evaded.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" - German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, adapted used in 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Walt Disney Productions, 1937.

Listen to poem:

The AI Mirror

His face was lit on liquid screens,
The feed stuffed with curated dreams;
As AI smoothed away his every flaw,
To show what he'd long wished for.

The bathroom mirror once showed the truth,
What he really was, in his fading youth;
But his new AI mirror was not that dumb —
It showed what his desire had become.

The algorithm made a flawless avatar.
With a perfect smile, a wondrous star!
His real self behind the mirror of glass,
Watched on as the masquerade came to pass.

The comments flowed like sparkling wine:
“Oh, so handsome — you look so divine!”
As AI showed the self he wished to be,
Then stole his rough strewn humanity.

One night, he faced the screen alone,
No glowing mask, no softened tone;
He saw beneath the flawless art,
A stranger with a withering heart.

His borrowed beauty shone, bright and fair,
While something darker gathered there.
For youth preserved at such a cost
Leaves the deeper self unloved and lost.

The hidden soul he could not unlace,
Still watched him from behind his face;
Each self-deception, each polished lie snide,
Left darkened shadows to brood inside.

At last he struck the glowing screen,
To kill the ghost within the machine;
But when the perfect image died,
He faced his ruined self untied.

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment