He stood there cursing his replica
Which cursed him from the mirror.
It was trailing him from room to room
But was never visible till he approached
A polished surface like this mirror,
When it suddenly appeared
In clothes exactly similar to his
With all his gestures and expressions,
Pretending to be unaware of him
But actually waiting
Till he turned and stared at it
And then it stared straight back at him
And mimicked his twitches
Of exasperated puzzlement.
So now it was cursing him
Precisely as he was cursing it.
Then suddenly he understood.
He sneered, and tapping the glass
He bluntly challenged his antagonist;
"You know the difference between us?
One blow from me
And bang! You wouldn't exist!
You're standing there
Usurping my personality
Strictly on sufferance.
If I let fly at you,
I'd smash my knuckle bones,
Maybe I'd break my wrist,
But all this glass would shatter to the floor
And you too, simple as that."
But even as he spoke, it spoke,
Tapping the glass between them, echoing him
And threatening him with the same fate,
And he wondered which of them would dare
To lash out at the other first:
If it did, would he himself
Explode into nothingness
As splinters littered the floor?
He looked down, pinched himself,
Turned, ran out of the house
And through the garden to the lane.
There was nothing, no one following him
As he walked to the village,
But in a puddle in the village street
He swore he saw it eyeing him again.
This time he didn't hesitate
But stamped on it and saw it disappear
As the water splattered out.
It might have reappeared, but he was gone,
Running the dark miles home,
In at the gate, in at the door,
And straight to the mirror ÔÇô
But it was there again,
Its trousers splashed with water
And panting and staring at him.
He screamed at it, but it screamed back
Till at last its patience broke
And its arms reached out
From the surface of the mirror
And grabbed him by the throat
And squeezed.











Used by permission of the author.