reflections

one day i set out
to stare myself down
in the bathroom
mirror
pupil-on-pupil
eyelids rigid-
ly
unblinking
tiny black
masses that started
to grow
to swallow
all the light
and detail of the room
till
i was but a haze
a steam of colours
without a thought
in my head
my heart hiccuped
and i blinked:
i was back,
just this boy
in a bathroom
mirror
trying to cheat himself.