The Wicked Kaleidoscope

By Vanshika Vangani

Coloured glass and beads within, 

Capricious and motley,

Rattling around, like my notions and sins,

Figured in the baroque-style,

Never lasting longer than a while, 

And in a jiffy, they appear distraughtly, 

Coloured glass and beads within, 

Iridescent and speckled,

Unuttered words, and untouched skin, 

What do I see in these dappled mirrors? 

That which is or that which I yearn to see? 

I was blind before, now what has fallen upon me. 

Charred glass and molten beads, 

Splintered mirrors and Lacerated skin, 

I looked at shadows and reflections,

Holding merely half the candour, 

They took me away, further and farther, 

So, I incinerated them, knowing the glass would cut,

For eons then, I had gravely misjudged.

By Vanshika Vangani