ALSphere Foundation
And when I stood in the dim light
Of my partly open bedroom,
Shaking like the sole leaf on
A storm-ravaged branch,
I let my thoughts flow again –
Thoughts that had frozen for a bit,
As if appalled at my deed.
The sweat drops trickled down my cheeks –
Or were they tears?
And then I caught a glimpse
Of the stranger in the mirror and gasped.
That wasn’t me – certainly not.
I have never looked so hideous.
And yet it moved the way I did.
As a shriek echoed through the silence,
I knew I was the stranger.
I had done what I never would have
If I had paused to let reason speak.
Anger does that to us –
We become strangers to ourselves.
Of my partly open bedroom,
Shaking like the sole leaf on
A storm-ravaged branch,
I let my thoughts flow again –
Thoughts that had frozen for a bit,
As if appalled at my deed.
The sweat drops trickled down my cheeks –
Or were they tears?
And then I caught a glimpse
Of the stranger in the mirror and gasped.
That wasn’t me – certainly not.
I have never looked so hideous.
And yet it moved the way I did.
As a shriek echoed through the silence,
I knew I was the stranger.
I had done what I never would have
If I had paused to let reason speak.
Anger does that to us –
We become strangers to ourselves.
