Glare Poem by Imaanah Saleem

On the wall hangs a glass
And in front of the glass I stand
But the images within this glass
Bare no proof of circumstance
It reflects another wall,
As well as a dresser, bed and TV
But no matter how hard I look
I see no reflection of me
Perhaps the glass needs cleaning
It's a stretch
Though it has to be true
What other explanation can there be
For this preposterous view
I make a note to myself to clean it
Then afterwards, look inside
And be happy with the results
Because my existence will be verified
Later in the day, I do just that
Spraying and scrubbing obsessively
A job well done
Though done for nothing
Because I still see no image of me
Frustration is beginning to simmer
Anger sparks and ignites
But then I begin to cool down
At a thought that it may be the light
After all, my room is so dim
Because I rely on one lamp to see
I hardly ever flick on the bright light above
Because it seems unnecessary
So with that thought
I do it now
Then look back in the glass hopefully
But the resolve remains the same
It's just an even brighter image of invisibility
This is all too bizarre
Too outrageous to fathom
Too illogical to even consider
Too ridiculous to even imagine
I must be losing my mind
My eyes must be out of whack
Because this is an impossible truth
An unbelievable fact
I've come to the conclusion that the reflector is broken
With its absurd vision of everything except me
And if the reality doesn't stop nagging at my awareness
Truly broken the thing will soon be