The Glass

Worn eyes look through their own reflection.

With gel she tames wild red curls.

Nora steadily powders each feature,

Desperately masking true beauty.

We don’t recognize this woman in

The glass

My eyes turn to a silent room where

Our son, Samuel still dreams on his pillow.

Each breath more peaceful than the last, until

The sun dares to end his slumber.

Its light shines too bright through

The glass

Moments later I see a touching sight

Mother and son, their embrace so tender

I extend my hand to join our family’s moment

Something stops me before my skin touches theirs

I can’t reach through

The glass

Yet they know I long to be there,

The feeling can’t be shaken.

I try to whisper my apologies

Try to show I care.

My voice will never sound on their side of

The glass

The knowledge of this fact is so cold

Though I watch, I am never a part

I replay each moment I see over and over again

These memories should include me

But all I’ll ever have is another life recorded through

The glass

I regret that fateful day

When I betrayed two people

For just one whose lust was too strong.

Wife and son pushed me away, so

I’ve been watching their lives through

The glass

Nora and Samuel longed for me; I knew their secret.

Blinded windows could not conceal

In the heart of our home—my connection

A tiny red light flashed warning, but neither noticed

From my new home far away, I could peer through

The glass

The pain has become unbearable

They miss the man I used to be, strong and faithful.  Not

Who I am now.  Just Tom.

They wish to let go of a life so torn with infidelity

This can never happen until I look away from

The glass.

My beloved are better off alone.

They don’t need this sad, broken man.

My will is not strong enough to let go,

But I have no choice.

My connection is threatened

A hurricane forces Nora and Samuel to evacuate;

I watch the love of my life and my only child disappear from

The glass

The weeks drag on

I wait for their return to a once lively home.

Anxiously imagining the new memories they will make

But nature has other plans, with its harsh winds.

In a moment

God’s most brutal storm

destroys

The glass

My heart stops, my body is frozen

One gust of wind has destroyed what took me years to build

Slowly, I lift my eyes from the blackness and see

Just outside these four walls there is life

A happy couple, dogs, a family on that side of

The glass

Tentatively I rise

As my eyes struggle to take it all in

I see everything I’ve been missing

Life went on, people fell in love, happiness was found

While I wasted away, obsessed with

The glass.