Stranger in the Mirror!

For one
the view is blurred,
Through watery eyes
and a heart heavily stirred;

You, Stranger in the mirror
have we ever met?
Socially, or in passing
on my being, or in my head;

I don’t have 
a recollection
I don’t recognize you,
Lost in an 
achy time zone
you are no longer me
that’s true;

My thoughts are 
in a tizzy
my memory 
struggles and fails,
Did we ever 
know each other?
or are they just fancy tales;

The spunk, the spirit
that once put a spring 
in my stride,
Have drowned in a 
sea of sorrow
swept into an 
ocean I cried;

The smile is crooked
it’s more of a charade,
I crumble deep within
and outside 
put up a façade;

There was a time
when I rode the 
crest of fortune,
Now I look up to the sky
and catch my beloved’s 
face in the moon;

You, in the mirror
I don’t see you laugh
or with mirth 
and joviality cackle,
I see you steeped 
in anguish
and the cross you bear
is heavy enough to tackle;

Your life seems stricken
tormented by misery 
weakened by pain,
Once you 
romanticized the clouds
now you cry in the rain;

You are of me
likeness of a reflection,
I could have loved you
but you are filled with
angst and abjection;

I approach you
with worry and concern,
I know it’s difficult 
to keep up appearances
when you would rather 
break and burn;

I see you drop your shoulders
and your head hung low,
I rush to extend a hand
but the glass of grief
hits back a blow;

Often times
my heart feels for you, 
I wish those weren’t tears
but glistening on a petal
the hope-filled morning dew;

Your eyes, 
those vacuous pools
are deep caverns,
They shut close
to faith and light
when once
they were a 
gateway to heavens;

Your arms fall empty
in listlessness
 by your side,
The company you miss
the embrace you crave
is long lost and died;

You stranger in the mirror
there’s nothing that matches
yet, you look like me,
A burst of belief glimmers
a hint of wish shines through
with promise to set a soul free!

*****

Have you lived my life?

Have you had sorrow
strike across your face,
Leaving an indelible mark
a burden so difficult to brace;

Have you breathed in the same air
the same cubic-centimeter
that I inhale,
The poison of self-pity
the toxin of self-doubt
that turn me pale;

Have you stepped into
the darkest room in your heart,
Where reside death and despair
anger and anguish
where hope and happiness
their ways part;

Have you ever been
trapped inside your mind,
With a maze of paths forgotten
and no road ahead to find;

Have you stared blankly
into a faraway horizon,
And been held back 
by gripping fear
shackled by a sense 
of self-derision;

Have you peered into
the eyes of grief,
Where deep longing rides
on the shoulder of loss
and tears bring no reprieve;

Have you walked on
the same piece of land,
Stumbling on desire, falling into 
an abyss of hopelessness
with not even Almighty 
to lend a hand;

Have you been in a crowd
and felt lonely and desolate,
With abjection, aimlessness
indifference and ennui
sealing your pitiable fate;

Have you wished to let go
but been forced to trudge on,
With days filled with emptiness
leading a life 
wretched and forlorn.