Stolen Glances
Every time I turn to peer
at my reflection in the mirror,
a cruel bargain comes in play:
the glass takes off another day
from my expected living span.
It’s vanity’s fair payment plan.
Each time I look I pay, alas.
I see already how the glass
has laced its silver in my hair,
my youth was stolen unaware.
The real me just fades away,
glance by glance, day by day,
until too late I’ll turn to see
the mirror has stolen off with me!
at my reflection in the mirror,
a cruel bargain comes in play:
the glass takes off another day
from my expected living span.
It’s vanity’s fair payment plan.
Each time I look I pay, alas.
I see already how the glass
has laced its silver in my hair,
my youth was stolen unaware.
The real me just fades away,
glance by glance, day by day,
until too late I’ll turn to see
the mirror has stolen off with me!
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2019 by John Thornberg, “Stolen Glances.” Poem reprinted by permission of John Thornberg. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.