The Looking Glass

I stand before the looking glass
And there behold a faded husk
Whose eyes are wide with haunted pasts
And skin is coated in red rust

I stand before the looking glass
That awful place where terrors lay
The horror I find staring back
Not drink nor dreams can chase away

I stand before the looking glass
Where once there shone a midday sun
The golden hues are gone to black
Their lighted weavings long undone

I stand before the looking glass
Before what was and could not be
This reeking, bulging pile of ash
Is what remains of what was me

I stand before the looking glass
Before regret, despair, and dread
Before a will begun to crack
Before a gaze that would be dead

I stand before the looking glass
Before the things I threw away
Before what's gone and won't come back
A haggard ghost of yesterday

As I turn from the looking glass
Before my soul breaks from the pain
The very fact of what I am
Envelops me like jagged rain