Face in the Mirror

This face in the mirror,

Sullen and gaunt,

Like a stranger in the daylight,

And my dreams it does haunt.

Eyes peering back at me,

Sunken and dull,

Light that once danced there,

Dimmer than before.

Lips that once sang

And laughed without care,

Now silent and thin – bitter?

Sweet music no longer there.

This body is ravaged,

Battered, drained, and thin.

How do I reclaim the light

That once shined from within?

What I once was is gone,

Cruelly wrenched from my hands.

Of all the existences I imagined,

This was not in my plans.

I long for an answer,

To this bewildering twist of fate,

Search my troubled mind,

For a means of escape.

As I finish the day

And turn in for the night,

Try to find the courage

To make it to light.

Arise in the morning

And begin it all again,

Face the face in the mirror,

Days without end.

I question my purpose,

Do not like what I see,

And wonder what happened

To the person I used to be.

But there remains a flicker,

A glimmer of hope, far below,

In those strange sunken eyes,

Buried deep in my soul.

I cannot see a path out,

But I know there must be,

For I am Your creation,

And You watch over me.

You know the stranger,

And You guide her path,

You know her purpose,

Help her find her way back.

The face in the mirror,

Sad and forlorn,

Still has a connection

To the one she was before.

This new path is foreign,

And not one I wish to take,

But with the stranger before me,

Amends I must make.

For we have a purpose,

And You have a plan.

Though I cannot always grasp it,

I know my life is in Your hands.

So the face in the mirror

And the face I once knew,

Must find a means together

To begin each day anew.

We must pull ourselves up,

Blink back the tears,

Find a way to go on,

And face all our fears.

We are frail and uncertain,

This stranger and I,

But despite our misgivings,

We will fight to survive.

Please forgive me my failings,

My worries and doubts,

And help me find comfort,

Seek solace throughout.

For with Your great mercy,

With Your kind loving grace,

Though it may not be easy,

This life we embrace.