Beautiful Deceit
In a dark wall covered with vines
And roses from top to bottom
Out of population lines
At a castle that’s far from modern
There exists a mirror 6 feet tall
Whose polish shine could light a room.
She’s linked by vines into the wall
And gives out a sweet, inviting tune
All who venture away from life
Find themselves there, though they know it not
They want to put an end to all strife
But they don’t know by who, they’ve been caught
Most all travel there a time or the next
And see the sweet mirror looking bright as can be
Her beauty against horrid life makes them perplexed
As she calls to them, “Come through, and see
See how easy it would be to not live
All your troubles will be wiped away
If you only step through the chance that I give
I’ll make colors out of your grey.”
The mirror, so tempting, lures one after another
Into the world on the other side of life
But none see the trap that she does offer
They think she holds a rose, but really; a knife…
Now, the middle of the day on a cold September night
A boy ventures far; from his life and his Light
Until into the darkness he comes; dragged down
And is drawn to the mirror’s shiny, bright gown
He looks at the mirror; sees what’s left of himself
He’s a mislabeled book left alone on the shelf...
But a secret from him is that the mirror is Deceit
She tells a sliver of the truth, and the rest, she deletes
She shows the boy life, and his troubles and faults
All that’s hurt him; his emotional assaults
And she ends with a picture; reflection of him
His crown on the ground; his clothes, tattered and thin
Then the mirror speaks up. She does what she does best
She says, “You’ve dealt with enough. I’ll take care of the rest.
Just walk right on through, and leave your sorrows behind
In me you’ll be at peace, and rest is what you’ll find.”
The boy looks at his reflection and sees nothing good
His worth and hope are gone; he doesn’t do as he should…
“I’m nothing,” says the boy, with that look in his eyes…
So he steps through the mirror, in her shining disguise.
The first step takes him in, to a glorious garden!
His pain is gone, his shame is forgotten
He feels no judgment and nothing to regret
In this calm garden he has no bad threats
The boy keeps on walking, as happy as can be
He’s lost all his troubles; but so little does he see…
The big picture’s lost in his eyes; very dulled
By the mirror’s cunning brightness, that had him enthralled
But the boy, in his daze, comes up to a bend
And as he takes the next turn…his joyfulness ends…
His next steps take him to the mirror’s second place
Where he looks on the life—where he has been erased…
The boy sees his friends, all crying together
Telling of the worth of him; how he was a treasure!
And a woman alone in the corner is weeping
For the man who never knew how much love for him she was keeping
He had refused to look up, and see her love shine
He loved her once… but had given up with time…
In another part of town, the boy watches from his hell
As his view goes into a house he knows all too well…
In a chair that he made for her, his mother sits and weeps
As she goes through a box of his things that she keeps
“Why did you do it??” she gasps out in pain
“If I could have…in your place, I would have lain.”
The boy reaches out to comfort her heartbreak
But in this mirror…of his life, he cannot partake
His view next follows his father, so strong
Weak on the floor he now sits until dawn…
Carving the present that he was to give
To his birthday boy of 18, if he would have lived…
“I know I was a harsh”, says his father in tears
“A poor example of my love through these years!
If you had just given me a chance to show you your worth
To me and your mom, since the day of your birth.”
The boy now in tears cries out to his past!
But he can’t touch it; it’s out of his grasp
Heartbroken now, the boy falls to the ground
Crying for the return of his precious crown
But he’d given it up already, for the mirror’s great trade
Without knowing the true price that he paid…
In silence, he rises, and continues his walk
The mirror’s road takes him to everything he sought
The boy sees it all! His happiness full
A life full of peace; his heart no more a hole
A woman who loves with passion and joy
And parents who keep him from being destroyed
The boy as he looks, sees friends with no hate
Who take him for him, and are willing to wait
The next thing he sees…is strangers unknown
Whose lives have been changed by the love that he’s shown
And the last picture revealed is the greatest indeed
Of all the marvels of his life, this one far exceeds…
The boy looks to this image and then with a gasp
Sees himself with his crown, and his true face unmasked
He is shining, he is strong, because of the great Love
That covers all his faults and cleans the heart thereof
And beside this boy, now a man,
Walks his daughter…..hand in hand
With bright blonde curls, and the eyes of her mother
He knows in his heart, he could never feel a love stronger
When he looks up to see someone walking to him
With a face as the dawn of the morning's first brim
His own sweet wife, with a baby in her grasp
Who’ll grow up to look just like daddy did in the past…
The boy, still standing; his heart ready to explode
Reaches out to his life that right before him, glows
…But as he reaches, the light slowly fades
And the faces of his children turn into haze…
“NO!” screams the boy, as his heart’s wrenched away
And he turns back in his path; goes back with no delay
He runs like the wind, back to his bright door
Expecting to see the mirror shining, like before…
But the mirror, his savior, was deceit herself
For on this side of her, she was the blackness of death
He pushed and he pushed on the mirror, six feet tall
But it was as if he were up against a brick wall
…For the boy did not know that when he made his trade
It was a one-way deal; he can never regain what he paid…
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