mirror study | Kaitlyn Sun

my eyes lock with my eyes

two black holes, duplicated

suspended in space and time.

i blink —

and the self-portrait shifts

late sun catching my skin

different angles, same grief.

same insecurities etched in my mind

in indelible ink, magnified.

i mirror pretty girls but i am not pretty.

now i am narcissus

staring at my silver reflection.

lean in too close to the looking glass

and you will fall right in

pray and remember vanity is a sin.

now i am a lake

swallowing body dysmorphic lies.

i don’t know if i am eating or drowning. 

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Kaitlyn Sun (she/her) is a part-time poet and full-time magical girl. She fights mental demons with words. Her work appears or is forthcoming in The Groke, The Cackling Kettle, Forget-Me-Not Press, and Querencia Press, among others. Find her at @sad.magical.girl on Instagram.