A Rock, A Chance

What if mirrors are only panes of glass
Windows into other worlds,
Only offering backwards imitations
Of our lives
By chance
When’er we happen to glance?

Would all those people,
Oh-so-vain,
Check their reflection
Again and again?
Wisdom dictates they not do so
For fear they fall in love and go
Through the glass
Like air
Then water
Air again
(The lake, just a film)
To be with a creature,
So beautiful,
That they could pass as a twin
Of those who gaze.

I might look more,
But not to follow the trail
Blazed by Narcissus,
Instead to guard,
Make sure my clone-
Reflection-
Does not leave,
Run away in fright,
To join the shadow
Of that other Lost Boy,
And also to watch
To see if I can
Catch it in the act
Of changing
Into one of the many
Me’s.

What if there are no mirrors,
Only looking glasses
That point to other realms?
I suggest you let them be,
Not calling forth reflections,
Under pretense of observation
In the vein of those great explorers.
Don’t give the reflections
Excuse to be vain.