When entering the Gorge, leave behind all preconceptions. Let yourself be carried off on a stream of consciousness that tickles the heavens as readily as it grinds down stone.

Mirror Man

Mirror man, I see your reflection

mirror man, mere apparition

mirror man, you have no connection,

you’re in no position to live, mirror man; you died a long time ago

and you never realized when, or how, or why;

you’re a walking man dead

in a sea of regret, in a desert of folly, killed by your friends

and those you trusted, by the things that were said and the way

you observed how a life should be lead

based on things

that you heard, based on things that have stirred your soul, mirror man,

and you are, word for word,

a scenario absurd,

and you never know how and you never know why you greave;

you lied to yourself mirror man, you’re an idol that’s fallen

absent man, you’re an image that fades

victim man, your existence was stolen

tragic man, everyman, by the mirrors betrayed;

now you covet your life and you want to know how and you

want to know why you became so forgiving and allowed your misgivings

to break you; it’s time to believe in a life without grieving,

in a life not fragmented and the end to bereavement, my friend.

The end of doubt, expectation, the shedding of old skin, the feel of the sun

on fresh limbs and a flame in your head,

there you go mirror man, that’s right! That’s right!

Make the move, refract the unnerving projections that haunt you,

outlive the prisms, those hollow renditions of looking-glass fiction

that haunt your visions, no longer give them credit

or the time of night. Sheared and transmuted, let them fall away,

embrace the life you believe in, strive for it,

you deserve it, you earned it; you were jailed in a prison of lies and deceit,

mirror man, of reflective unfairness

mirror man, but now you’re living your life as a real man,

better than what you expected, transcending the prisms

to break free, whole man,

reflexive awareness liberating your form, my dear,

dear man, do you understand?

You’re not a reflection or a mere apparition;

you’re not a projection of the others’ perception;

you’re so much more.

Acquiring your essence,

you’re stating your presence,

you’re making impressions,

you’re finally free.