The strange, vaguely familiar face
smiled at me wearingly
in a defeated sort of way,
resigned to his assigned fate,
age lines disappearing
in folds of sagging flesh,
only to virulently reappear
as deep seismic fault lines.
I stepped away from the mirror,
needing a corrosive liquid as a crutch
to confront my corroded reflection.

-

Mesh of lies
disguised as alibis
meant to placate
now reverberate
as unspoken jibes
meant to thrive
under seismic faults
like caustic taunts
the rancid fruit
of innocent untruths.

-