This is another of my Tolkien-inspired poems, this one reflecting on Frodo after his return from the Ring journey.
I
see myself reflected in the mirror every day,
the very one I
looked in before the time I went away.
What is this face, this
one I see?
It looks to be the same old me.
But there are
other things reflected
in the eyes of others, eyes deflected
by
what they know and what they think
and what they’ve heard, and
what they drink…
In the eyes of friends who know me well,
there’s yet another tale to tell…
But I see sometimes
someone small
and sometimes see no one at all…
Facing
me from a window’s glaze,
staring with a puzzled gaze,
Is all
I am and all I’ve done,
all I have seen–they are all one–
Staring back, reflecting…who?
I don’t know which of me
is true.
2005
LOOSELY SPEAKING... 