I chanced upon a mirror
Along a boulevard - less travelled;
Picked it up,
And held it before myself,
To see my replica in it;
Abhorred the stark reality
And turned away - denying.
What was so different about this mirror?
Why did it show me an image -
I had never seen before?
Nor ever wished to confront?
I dashed it to the pavement,
But it just wouldn’t shatter;
Like water perturbed momentarily
By a pebble thrown,
Returns back to its composure.
I pondered and wondered,
And sat dismantled,
Seeking the solution to the mystery.
Finally, I hit upon the answer.
It was so simple:
All the other mirrors I had seen earlier
Were either convex or concave,
But this one was plain
With the perfect mercury support,
Such that it provided an X-ray vision.
Indeed,
Self-introspection is healthy
For emotional metabolism.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem