It usually takes two
To see one’s true reflection.
The mirror lies,
It flatters,
It distorts.

It takes another
To look into the mirror,
To see the truth
Or to discern a lie.

All mirrors in the world
Are made by people.
We tailor them
To glorify the vision that we cherish,
And to extoll the shape
That we perceive as ours.

That’s why it usually takes two
To see the truth
In all its imperfections,
The truth that does not hide
Beneath the polished glass,
The truth that’s unembellished
And uncensored.

That’s why it usually takes two.
Unless…
We are too lost in our own image
And care not
To look at something else.

Then,
Standing side by side
We prop each other’s fiction,
Unwilling to hold true
Reflection to its source.

When we are mesmerized
By our own echoes
We glorify a lie.
That usually takes two.
But sometimes
It takes more.

The illustration is Echoes by Veronica Winters.