Mirror, mirror

  on the wall
the fairest of
them all

appears in seconds
quickly viewed –
black lashes beckon

small nose, peaked;
a flash: the flush
in both the cheeks

the mirror catches
YOU! my love
in breathy snatches

as I pass
unwitting (shrewd
silver-backed glass)

though I embrace
you as I brush
your daddy’s face,

in glass, it’s through
a glance oblique
alone that you

come forth, my dear –
reminding me
that you were here.

and when my heart’s
as black as bleak
your glimpse imparts

reason to be –
that I might see
a dream in me.


                  Shelley Costa
                         posted May ’04