Mirror, Mirror
As I wipe dust
from the old mirror
my face looks out
red from the sun,
unshaven, tiny river
systems of burst
blood vessels, skin tag
under one eye,
same old friendly moles,
nose hairs—how they
grow!—flesh crease
where chins divide.
I'm a round faced,
heavy faced, middle
age man with a hand's
span of forehead topping
a big head. Size 7 1/2
for hats. "Master dome,"
says Arden who has one
of her own. The little Billy
I was, unmarked, cute
enough to eat with a spoon,
gone with so much else
to the mirror's other side.
God bless him.
______________________
William Corbett
Boston Vermont
Zoland Books, 1999
William Corbett, 1975
photograph by Jonathan Williams
