Mirrored Truth

By Rufaida Manzoor

I stood beside the silent lake,

With eyes that felt no urge to break.

My hair fell low in shadows deep,

The waters stretched, their secrets keep.

I gazed upon my mirrored face,

A stranger stood in my own place.

It made me ask with quiet breath,

Do I know myself, or chase a myth?

The seas, the oceans, lakes, the ponds,

Are water still, though size responds.

The vessel shifts, the essence same,

Yet I compared, and bore the shame.

Would larger waves reveal me true,

Or show a self I never knew?

Would I at last embrace my form,

Or doubt again, as doubts transform?

But waters never still remain,

They ripple, rise, they break, they strain.

At times they rage with stormy cries,

At times they dance beneath gentle skies.

I fought the waves, I begged their will,

To shape my form, to hold me still.

Yet nature’s law will not be tamed,

The waters never bore the blame.

For how could I unchanged abide,

When I’m of nature’s pulse and tide?

Forever shifting, fierce or mild,

I am her current, raw and wild.

By Rufaida Manzoor