Mirror
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
What ever you see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful—
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
Honestly never thought about the aspects of the mirror in the way that Plath describes. This personified mirror has no preconceptions, never cruel only truthful, honest. When I was younger my dad used to mention my actions making me able to look into a mirror at the end of the day; a mirror gives an honest depiction of who you are, what you look like on the outside. Because it only gives the 2 dimensional image, it does not give you insight to the depth of a person. “A woman bends over me, searching my reaches for what she really is. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. I see her back, and I reflect it faithfully.” Unlike a painting or a photograph, a mirror cannot misconceive the viewer. I have two mirrors in my bedroom, I have one large mirror and seven decorative mirrors in my bathroom, every morning I go from my bedroom to my bathroom, thats a hell of a lot of honesty for one morning.
“She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. I am important to her. She comes and goes… She has drowned a young girl and in me an old women rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” Your clothes, and fake faces are just disguises to a mirror because they know what your are when it comes down to it. Like a cycle, in the morning out of bed you are one face (the true face) as you leave for work or school you have a different, slightly cleaner, face.
