Reflection
A poem by Dennise Gackstetter

Reflection

Some days you can wake
into a beautiful morning,
all soft and glowing and pink
around the edges. A morning
that invites you to remember
your own beauty. But you
cannot recognize it anywhere.
All you can feel is
the raggedness of your heart
where some old scar
was torn open the day before
by sharp words in old memories.
How the tender raw edges ache
of that new old wound
that you thought was fully healed.
No one else sees it or feels it,
and you have gotten good
at keeping it hidden,
keeping your eyes lowered,
or looking off in the distance
so no one can find it.
You can make it through
a whole day this way,
staying hidden while living
in plain sight. Until some
unsuspecting person catches you
off guard as you look up to open a door. 
They greet you with a simple nod 
of acknowledgement.
Their gentle gaze
takes in the whole of you.
They smile the smallest of smiles.
You cannot help but smile back,
and in that moment
become a mutual mirror.
Though cracked and shattered
you reflect each other,
bespangling the lobby
with fluttering fragments of light.

About the Author:

Dennise Gackstetter is a visual artist, writer, and educator whose current day job is Principal Lecturer in the Department of Art & Design at Utah State University. Her artwork has been exhibited in many venues regionally and nationally. Her writing has been published in Studio Potter, Blue Mesa Review, Sweet Smell Journal,Desert Wanderings, and The Cache Valley Facing Depression ProjectCollected Essays.

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