What I See
By John Herlihy

I
I don’t see myself when I look in the mirror;
I seem a stranger to myself hovering in the mist.
What I once was is not the man of tomorrow;
The child became the man thru happiness and sorrow.
What I see clearly is the outline of a mirage,
The years have worn their wear upon my visage.

II
I don’t see myself when I look in the window glass;
I see the youthful specter of how I looked in the past,
I see what I once was when I lived far too fast.
The distance between then and now seemingly vast;
I see the way I might look sometime in the future,
I see what I could become in life, an aging tutor.

III
I don’t see myself when I look into the river;
My features shake like liver and look like silver.
It’s as if the river doesn’t know who I really am,
And is willing to give back in reflection a total sham.
It disturbs me to think that nature could be in error,
When I see myself in reflection, I have feelings of terror.

IV
I don’t see myself when I look into the future;
I see the child I once was but not the man of tomorrow.
No one can claim to see what is not his to own;
The future may come with the breath of an old crone.
Better to see nothing and let the future arrive on time;
We may end up biting bitterly into lemons and lime.

V
I do see myself, however, when I look into your eyes;
You are the Eye with which I see; the Spirit with which I be.
I fall deep into the depths of your cavernous well,
There to explore the sacred emotions that the sages foretell.
I am lost, lost, lost in love, sunk in feelings of endless surprise;
This is what I see when I look into Your Eye.