Reflection

By Adil Musabji

White touching pink, spotted with green
and red and yellow, dark blue twisted
with gray, wrapped in ribbons of marigold.

Displayed in the center of town, eyes
ooh and aah as they pass by, the shades
shouting in the day and shining in the night
inviting admiration, pride and power.

I stop and stare into its eye and
it looks back and smiles, mouthing envy,
lust and idolatry – a focus of unfocus.

What if at this moment my soul is ripped
from my flesh and placed in front of a mirror?
What would I see? A demon in a coat of color
or the handsome man I pretend to be?

 

Adil Musabji studied electrical engineering and law and currently works as a patent attorney in Chicagoland. His poems are published or forthcoming in the Layla Journal, the Rose-Hulman Quarterly, Rising Phoenix Review, and others.