As a youth, you were beautiful
you didn’t need a mirror to tell you that
you didn’t need to transcend
I did that for you.
Your earlier face, that asymmetric face
was the one I knew best;
with the nose offset,
thanks to the playing field.
Then the glass came between us
between me and you
there was something on the other side
I couldn’t see beyond.
When the time came, when your turn came
and you found me again, questioning
I couldn’t reflect you back
I couldn’t be flawless.
When age, that cruellest vicissitude
found you, and took you away
leaving only a framed emptiness,
I had to find a braver face.
