Mirror Mirror on the Wall

(Published in Tehalka Newspaper in June 2004)

Driving in air-conditioned comfort
as I thought unhappy thoughts
Why was I not gifted beauty?
What did I do to deserve
the marks on my face?
Why could not I lose weight
or weight ever lose me?
So drive I did, wondering
what would happen next month
when I don’t have a job?
a thousand worrisome thoughts

The signal was red
Also broken was my trail of thoughts
She was on the pavement
pretty as a picture, babe in arms
her beautiful eyes moving
to car after car in vain hope
braving the unrelenting sun
torn clothes, sad smile less eyes
was she really a pretty picture?

Not in the eyes of a driver or two
who looked upon her
with more hunger
than her babe would have felt.
Shuddering as I imagined her
in the night, homeless,
fighting to stay away from prying eyes
I wondered if beauty was
really a boon?

Back home facing a mirror
I saw my ugly marks fade away
as the mirror turned
into my son’s innocent little eyes
And what I saw in them
was a sight never to be forgotten
Never to be taken lightly
A lesson for all times to come
to cherish and to preserve
Yes, I saw
A very beautiful woman looking back at me!


© Smita Rajan
June 2004