Best Looking Glass Poems
I fear not the unknown
but what I cannot unleash and interpret
stifled emotions blur my vision
leaving my looking glass self – unclear
my insides are in disarray, like
shredded confetti propelling in the wind
scattered pieces lose their bearing
leaving my looking glass self - astray
bewilderment surrounds me now, while
revisiting an exhausted road
heavy footprints convey a story
leaving my looking glass self - questioning
life’s sophistication is a struggle, akin to a rubix cube
to succeed with no difficulty - cheat
moulding fate to the desired outcome
leaving my looking glass self - discreditable
I excavate buried courage, and
confront the image gazing back at me
suffering has been endured, however
the reflection stands upright and determined
despite life’s battle, survival has conquered
leaving my looking glass self – intact
written by Diana-Marie Bombardieri
January 11, 2012
Originally written in 1998
Now that the wicked witch has left the room….
Alice…in Never, Never Land, with clouded brow, and foggy mind, stares through the looking glass at the flames of autumn falling from the maples trees.
And…as she watches this ballet of little fluttering fairies in flaming gowns of crimson, amber and gold, she REMEMBERS…yes…she REMEMBERS… that world where she once lived.
She remembers a time so long ago… when with unclouded brow… she danced with those flaming fairies and laid down with them when they fell to the ground in the backyard of the house where she once lived with her mother, father, brothers and sisters.
Where are they now, she wonders?
And in that moment….she sees their smiling faces and hears their laughter as the aroma of that magical autumn so long ago, returns obliterating the smell of antiseptic and death.
A smile slowly creeps across her weathered face as she realizes, SHE HAS ESCAPED.
BUT THEN…the door opens………………AND THE SPELL IS BROKEN, for the wicked witch has returned.
TIME FOR YOUR MEDICATION, ALICE…she sweetly croons, as she pulls down the blind.
Author: Elaine George
Written: September 4th, 2014
The mirror reflected her face, pained with
Hate and self-loathing
Rueing her actions from the night before
On waking to find herself naked, lying beside him
Under the influence of alcohol, she had
Given in and made love to him, now, she chastised
Herself for letting him make his move
There had once been a time, when
His touch was all she desired, but that fire had been
Extinguished many years ago
Love had disappeared in an instant
Once he had started playing his game and his
Omnipotence had came to the fore,
King had taken Queen
In his opening play and he’d taken control
Now he was on the offensive again and
Giving herself to him, had gained him the upper hand
Gathering her resolve, she put aside her
Lamentations and regrets, closing her door silently
As he lay quietly, still deep in sleep;
She stepped into the shower, the water removing all trace of him as
She contemplated her next strategic, defensive move.
The west winds of springtime
Brought forth April showers
That rained on the pavements
Of Southwick for hours.
It was standing room only
And full to the brim
As people sought shelter
At the old Tabard Inn.
A man with a top hat
Sat staring in space.
There was illness and sadness
Etched deep in his face.
A man with a fob watch
Was seen swapping gold
For a bottle of whisky
Before facing the cold.
A woman sighed deeply
Then laughed with a guest
While sipping tap water
And winning at chess.
There was no chef so no food
Since that dark violent day
When the innkeeper watched him
Being stretchered away.
So the sailor (being followed)
Missed having his tea,
And drank five pints of real ale
Before leaving for sea.
~*~
Close your eyes
To your surprise
Wake up never recognized..
Time beyond the looking glass
Nonchalantly travels past
Without a single question asked..
Judgmental eyes stare in vain
A victim of a curious brain
Begin at the beginning then start again..
Like falling down a rabbit hole
With no control
Inquisitiveness starts to take its toll..
Smiling felines and parties with tea
Shedding enough tears to fill a sea
Back to the door without a key..
Big and small and big again
Decks of cards march like men
Remorseful innocence not knowing where or when..
Painted red roses lined up in a bed
Screams from a sovereign "Off with her head"
Once ticking hands abruptly stop dead..
Have I gone crazy?
Am I insane?
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
Again and again........
~*~
For..Dream On Free Poetry Contest Details
Debbie Guzzi
The girl with the looking glass heart
She polished the lens with a smudge of her finger
Still tiny traces of memories linger
Held to the light so the streaks they were showing
Wiped it again all the while just knowing
Darkness collected the corners she wept
Placed in the box with the love letters kept
Tied with a ribbon and sealed with a kiss
Stuck in a closet no longer to miss
Something was blurred in the sight she was seeing
Another time and a place often fleeing
Wanting the one with the smile unending
Lost in this room on the whispers now sending
She did not breathe, no not one breath of air
Sitting alone in the dark she did stare
Wishing on dreams out of focus and light
Wondering if it was day or was night
Opened a curtain, the sun was deceiving
Blinding the truth that her soul was believing
Calling reflections of love’s shining fashion
Thought back to days filled with feelings and passion
Took out a hanky and with just the right touch
Cleaned off the smears she had hated so much
Looked to the sky, she could see every part
For she was the girl with the looking glass heart
she looks back at me
always takes me by surprise
this woman in the mirror
that i never seem to quite recognize
still she looks at me
her eyes drawing me in
refuses to utter a sound
and shatter that eerie film of chagrin
she lives inside the mirror
has no name or voice
a prisoner that's trapped
perhaps somehow somewhat by choice
AP: 2nd place 2025, Honorable Mention 2025
Submitted on January 21, 2025 to constest IN AN INSTANT sponsored by CRAIG CORNISH - ranked 12th
A photo stands in nature’s way
Like a magic looking glass it
Seals the moment sunset cast
Forever one golden streak across
The sky dipping it’s blazing tongue
Into the sloshing sea below
A majestic moment embossed
Upon the mind never to change
Seemingly and yet each time I look at it
I see that advancing tide I feel that
Evening chill and I hear your voice
Beside me speaking softly with awe
And wonder
Each time I rake that photo with my eye
I see another world and sometimes more
New conversations happen on that shore
And ever changing motions in that sky
A photo stands in nature’s way
Like magic in a looking glass
Now this cross is carried...And a crucifixion--AWAITS--and the blood
which has fallen--to late--for an answer, to late to be saved!!! A thousand
eyes--wondering/staring deep inside, looking for forgiveness inside of dead eyes
gone astray...A hint of darkness, begging eyes that fade...deep within the
voices--CRYING/CALLING my name...it's better off inside here--so peaceful and safe...
No feelings, no sadness, no sorrow, no pain...I'm now free from the madness--
drifting-- freely/happily away...Away...Away...This will not last forever...
SADLY--I begin to feel--I breathe in the poison, of a new life I start--AGAIN--
in a new life I begin again...And there is no END...TORMENT... TO grow again---
to feel again-- to hurt again--to lose my mind, over and over and over again...
There is no never, there is never an END...PERPETUAL, CONTINUOUS SICK LIFE!!!
There is no absolute meaning...Just a struggle to get by...Forever, and ever and ever
TORMENT!!!
Within the looking glass--why can't I get in??? Be the one on the inside, instead
of the one lost within??? I can't stand to look at you, to see the distorted reflection...
Is it me, or is it an ILLUSION??? I don't even recognize you...It can't be me!!!
Maybe one day--once again I can step inside, and not come back...Maybe I could just
fade away--DISAPPEAR--never exist...And maybe in all actuality--I DON"T!!!
Maybe, I'm just a figment in someone elses mind...Maybe, I haunt them with a MADNESS...
Or maybe, I am INSANE!!! Or just a little confused...There is a QUESTION to my SANITY,
but an unheard answer...
Be one looking out--instead of the one looking in!!!
05-14-2002
Desolate thoughts
and counting crows
Specs of light
spread across
Across the bridge so far
The Darkened moonlit sky
Red white and blue
Neon lights
Sparkle for the few
Left hanging out
In Spanish Harlem
That very night
Looking through
The windows of lost
souls
I cry laugh and rejoice
Seen what you didn't
See in me
And what I couldn't see
In myself
Images of yesterday
Entombed in our hearts
Minds seeking outlets
Through an opening
That wasn't there
Seeing Mirror images
Of myself the fellas
The girls what a world
What a time
What a life
We jitterbuged
Around the concrete jungle
The streets showing off
Our colors galore
Our names of Lore
Shown on those white walls
Girls For show
Carmen Linda Brendalee too
The other side
Chino Tony and jap
Say hey we can't forget
Bozo the base
The Lords we were
We sang from
Stoop to stoop
Subway to rooftop
Harmonizing to the sun
Singing into the darkness
On the stage we call life
Wayback when
Sharing windows
Of yesteryear
Friends of yesterday
Mirror images
Shadows of...
Oneself
Morning In The Hair Salon
She would chat and then nod as she washed
And laugh as she dried and then curled
But behind all the smiles that were wide, fixed and false
She felt challenged and alone in the world.
She felt angry and always so tired
With debts adding up to her worry
She would rather stay home and dream every day
Than be out every hour earning money.
Noon
She looked at herself in the mirror
And then sighed at the things she had seen:
Her life going backwards from where she once was
When her path was marked out to be queen.
She reflected back onto her childhood
And the reasons for her mistrust of men
The real world took over when she opened her eyes
She was young and so different back then.
She was tempted to run from her rehab.
To a place that could let her forget
And hide down a hole where the 'Drink Me' was free
But she stood firm and wasn't there yet.
She felt trapped in her work ever after
And wanted to leave and explore
But each time she tried, she failed and then found
She was back in the salon once more.
Night In The Tabard Inn
She helped out in The Tabard each evening
To avoid all the beatings at home.
She would laugh and play chess with the customers there
But despite this felt very alone.
She returned to her home just past midnight
A place that she hated and feared
Her husband was up and waiting for her
With eyes that stared back and looked weird.
She said nothing on entering the hallway
Then said she was going to bed.
He breathed a big sigh and then he spoke out
And these are his words that he said:
- I went to The Tabard this evening
To swap drink for the Watchmaker's gold.
I wanted to make you a ring for our love
Now I'm back and I'm wet and I'm cold.
Later That Night At Home
She ignored her fifth husband's advances
And reached for some whisky instead
Then with scissors in hand came a voice from her heart
It was his turn to hear "Off with his head!"
- Readers, I hope you forgive me.
I’m retracting some words I once said:
I'd planned to write just five of these tales
But I've added a sixth tale instead..
Night
The preacher was searching for Duchess
Also known as 'The Tabard Inn Cat'.
Scared by the storm she'd run out of the inn
And knocked over his drink where he sat.
That event brought an end to his chess game:
The first he had played in a while.
His worthy opponent who sipped water had said
That his comforting words made her smile.
The preacher had stood from the table.
Looking scared and somewhat distraught.
He felt for some reason there was trouble ahead
And proclaimed that the cat should be caught.
He'd opened the door of The Tabard
And was met by the sound of the rain.
A sailor pushed past him and into the bar
As the preacher limped off down the lane.
Later That Night
The last person to see him still breathing
Was sadly not sober at all.
A 'top-hatted' man who was heading for home
Thought he saw someone scaling a wall.
He swore that he saw something smiling
And eyes that stared back and looked weird.
It was all very dark and his mind wasn't right
Then the shadows he saw disappeared.
The Morning After
The preacher was found dead the next morning
He had fallen it seemed from a height.
Whispers and rumours were swirling around
Like the wind from that wet stormy night:
- "He had feelings for a woman who's taken.."
- "Their love was just dead on the shelf!"
- "He was burdened by guilt with his faith and all that"
- "That cat was the devil itself!"
Later That Week
A sermon revealed at his service
(That the whole town had turned out to see)
That the preacher was an animal lover
And had suffered with PTSD.
You see he was once a brave soldier
But lost hate when he lost his right leg.
He left to preach love and bring all things together:
..He was truly an all-round good egg.
So I sit here in the infectious waste, wasted effort, waste of time.
Wasting away my youth, my livelihood, my hopes and dreams,
How am I supposed to handle this?
( * * )
Ok fine, I look up and I do see it,
A brilliant white ball of glass,
as massive as the sun,
telling me one message, one message, one message...
Holy freaking crap!
Way too bright man! Waaaay too bright..
Stain that glass with my sins, make it darker! the light! I can't...not right now.
I don't think I can handle this.
( - - )
Ok fine, I look back down and stare at my reflections.
Two arms, two legs, two eyes,
Multiplied by billions.
Phew, that's better.
Keep my head down.
The devil's in the details, details, details.
No one can see me anymore...not even you.
( * * )
These people are Heaven's messengers, all of them angels, but not to me.
I overlook the obvious on a regular basis...I overlook love.
It's just sooooo much easier that way...
You tell me then...how am I supposed to handle this?
( 0 0 )
Really? Why, who are all these people?
Do they come from the ball of glass?
Do I?
The glass, the stains, the light...
Why is it so bright?
Why is it so bright?
For the Love of God, why is it so freaking bright!
...oh wait...
Ok fine, have it your way.
Let Me Through The Looking
Glass
Down by my window, and I
think
Let me go through the looking
glass
"As if I am so visionary
To project some conspiracy
Don't trudge down that frozen
road"
Let me go through the looking
glass
Let me lay bare hallucination
Under a coat of imagination
Traversing desert land so vast
I will stand by my deception
Barring solid intersection
Let me through the looking
glass!
"I saw the man
in the mirror
Contort his mask
Then woke, aghast"
Spilt my milk in the morning
Stole my brother's breakfast
bread
Ran through the gate, out of
the door
Ran until I dreamt no more
Let me go through the looking
glass!
*(") represents italics
You say you can’t believe in God
You say the world is too far gone
With all this corruption deep inside
You think the truth must be a lie
It’s just another day
Another heart break
Another teenage girl
Who gets raped and killed
Why die and go to hell
When you can just experience hell on earth
You say you can’t believe in God
You say the world is too far gone
With all this corruption deep inside
You think the truth must be a lie
It’s 4 am
And the phone rings as loud as it can
It’s your best friend
He was just shot and killed
You look to the sky
And you can’t help but to ask God why
Does God even care
Does he see what you see
With all this hurt and pain
How could this be fair
You say you can’t believe in God
You say the world is too far gone
With all this corruption deep inside
You think the truth must be a lie
But what you do not see
Through that one way looking glass
Is the tear that falls down God’s face
And the warmth of his loving embrace
It is our sin that separates us from God
Our rebellious ways that brings our pain
Before the first sin was a perfect world
We brought this upon ourselves
But by the grace of God and his love
He gave us the key to heaven above
Just trust in Jesus Christ till the end
And watch your brokenness mend
You say you can’t believe in God
You say the world is too far gone
With all this corruption deep inside
You think the truth must be a lie