"Never Seeing" by Kaitlyn Vaughn

Never Seeing

Kaitlyn Vaughn

Rounded edges, intertwining in such a familiar way,

A smooth surface, tangible and concrete.

An endless pit thrusting light infinitely forward,

Timeless, never-ending, used throughout generations past,

And destined for future posterity.

Reflections sought and found, but never truly seen.

Light shimmers and pervades the looker’s face,

Distracting the beholder from a deeper, more intellectual gaze.

Wherein the distorted, immaculate image remains fake, misunderstood.

For reflections and mirrors are but a transparent guess,

Never seeing that which is more, only less.

Poet’s Notes:  Sometimes I enjoy picking a random object and writing about it.  I like seeing what I can come up with once I’m done. The object that I picked for this poem was, of course, a mirror. The last line is my favorite--when one looks into a mirror, all one can see is an image from the outside and nothing within. Images are fake shells, encasing the true being of the self inside.

Editor’s Note:  I enjoy the way this poem builds to the intense rhyming couplet reveal.  I decided against an accompanying illustration for this one so as not to spoil the surprise.