This poem is inspired by a prompt series called “The Time is Now” sent out by Poets and Writers.

“Self Portrait”

Sitting on my bed, I look around me:

the dog, asleep, on the floor, books – Dickens, Austen, J.K. Rowling -,

Freddy the Teddy resting on a decorative pillow,

and then focus on the central figure in the mirror (plain, square, slightly dirty, unlike Plath’s lake)

The face is familiarly oval;

My mom says it looks “most like me, unfortunately”

with traces of cousins and an unmet grandmother.

I see this too: my brown, almost hazel eyes and sometimes wild, but always curly hair

that seems to change shades of brun when I turn my head.

I see also remnants of a pimple and under my collarbone, a chickenpox scar.

I do not quite see my little, previous self;

she is inside me.

I do not see a writer;

the notebook and pen are not visible in my reflection.

In this room, my home for the summer,

I see me – a woman – myself – a human – and I.