
Blood on my trembling fingers from yesterday’s out of control rendezvous.
I don’t think I’m ready to ask questions with answers dipped in your blues.
It’s true, wanting everything from my past to be torn apart isn’t a solution
But I’ve waited too long for a happy ending, not another mediocre conclusion.
“I love you so much it pains me,” I say, looking at a gold framed mirror.
Bought this one myself in a vintage shop made for people-shaped errors.
Painted my walls white and took the hoarded neon to another graveyard –
I spilled my paint going there, then accidentally became the vanguard
Of some new, braver movement… Sorry, I can’t really recall their name.
They told me tales about the fame monster but I won’t listen to reason
When it comes to my shame.
So there’s still blood on my hands and I should admit – it’s probably mine.
Cutting your heart open becomes a hobby if you start practising when you’re nine.
Bleeding yourself dry daily for other’s mistakes feels OK, you’ve gotten better.
But I’m still unable to remember a time where I looked at myself
And didn’t feel dry or bitter.
May this mirror I’ve bought myself serve as a reminder of how I’m here, breathing,
And if I happen to bleed for my own life again, that’s because I’m leaning on myself,
The one person honest enough to drop her habit of being deceiving,
Instead of running for the hills, walking the walk through the delayed grieving.
May this mirror be the first thing to remind myself I am not perfect at it,
But I am healing.
-JW



