Reflections In The Closet Mirror

by Henry S. Juhala
(O'Fallon, IL USA)

You preserved your old broken mirrors
To hide your overflowing tears
To mask your troubled bloodshot eyes
Symbols of your deepest fears

In your costume trunk you stowed away
False fears formed from yesterday
In your closed closet you kept at hand
Disguises from a world that’s gay

You longed for someone else to care
About the face of pain you wear
Someone to help shoulder the weight
To share the burden you were born to bear

But then you finally bare your tattered soul
Naked in front of a mirror that’s whole
Free from all the forms of fashion
Designed especially for this role

Your closet becomes a family room
Instead of a fancy costume tomb
Your masks falling off one by one
Exfoliating away the gloom and doom

Now your wardrobe hangs flowing free
Your closet open for the world to see
Reflecting in the mirror in front of you
The person you were created by God to be

©2011 Henry S. Juhala