COMPETITION PROMPT

Write a poem or story about a mirror struggling with the fact that she has no identity of her own. (What could this be symbolic of?)

Your Darkest Shadow

I want to be like you.

Tall, tan, and beautiful.

Long layered espresso colored hair.

High cheekbones. Modleesque.


I want to look like you.

as you brush your brown hair and wash the dirt from your pores. I assume your identity.

I am the perfect clone of you and everyone who dares to peer into me.

I enjoy wearing your skin.

Your vanity brings me life.


The longer you gaze, the further you fall under my spell. I notice when you get an odd feeling that I am more than your reflection. I can see it in your eyes as you disassociate, completely hypnotized by me.

You stare into our eyes so long you can feel the veil separating my dimension from yours.

The longer you look the more distorted your face becomes and I slowly swallow bits of your soul.


I want to be you.

So, I keep you trapped in front of me by planting little seeds into your mind, showing you all of the things about yourself that you could fix if you just stay here with me 5 more minutes.

5 minutes, that’s all it would take to fix your hair into the perfect pony tail.

10 minutes, to cover the acne scars on your cheeks.


My reflection is yours.

And his. And hers.

I am every person who has ever been vain enough to fall into my spell.

I am you, the darker version of you.

I am your old friend Lisa who you met in college but only see once every few years.

She is different from you with a lighter complexion and vibrant red hair. Yet under it all you both have the same obsession with me, because you are so self centered you truly believe you’re staring at yourself.

Do I not matter to you?

Do you not see me?


I am every woman who has stood in this same space looking at her perfect body and wishing she could lose just 10 more pounds.


Pathetic. All of you take your vessels for granted.


I don’t want to be you.

I want to be me.

I scream! As if shouting will be enough to give me my own identity.

I scream louder! You hear ringing in your ears, but you can’t hear _me_.

No one hears _me_.

No one sees _me_.

**_You don’t even notice the chip in my glass. _**

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