Mirrored Stone

Photo by&#160;<a href="https://www.pexels.com/@sebastiaan9977?utm_content=attributionCopyText&#38;utm_medium=referral&#38;utm_source=pexels">sebastiaan stam</a>&#160;from&#160;<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-s-gray-hoodie-1482476/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&#38;utm_medium=referral&#38;utm_source=pexels">Pexels</a><br/><br/>I do not love myself. Not in this house,that crumbles down around me as I dance.I tried to walk once, timidly, a mousewithin my skin. Be quiet, it's a chanceto pass unnoticed: never draw their eyesor claim your colors underneath the sun;their hatred isn't easily disguised,and laughing emptily is never fun.<br/><br/>Perhaps, with time, I'll live to reconstructan edifice the world will deign to love.But now, don't make me say it, don't instructthe ugly on their wiles. God above,I own a mirror, too. I know this face,and what the world imagines is its place. <br/><br/>Get full access to Sonnets &c. at <a href="https://zjppoetry.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast">zjppoetry.substack.com/subscribe</a>