[Alex Pepple]

Through a Gilded Mirror


I passed the past along a lavish hall—
enrobed in silk, not recognizing me—
The years between us looming like a wall
Of journals with their dim dates hard to see.
I fought the urge to chase this chance event,
So memory could perform its forgetting plot,
My steps on marbled gleam spurred in ascent
To futures that the present hadn't sought.
The lobby light lacquered her simple face
In champagne glow it hadn't earlier known,
As though these years had dressed her in a grace
More radiant than the aspect she had shown.
I turned the corner, certain in my stride,
That looking back tows like a lunar tide.

Though looking back tows like a lunar tide,
And something in me falters in my stride,
Had I misread the radiance she had shown,
Now crowned by candlelight's revealing grace?
Her presence, still familiar yet unknown,
Our shared memoirs flash, oblique, on her face.
The present hoards the futures I once sought,
My halting steps abate in a descent
Where memories diverged and lost the plot—
Two different clocks and one shared chance event,
New calendar dates neither one can see,
The years between us crumbling like a wall.
In profile, sudden recognizing me,
Silk slips past me along the lavish hall.

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~~~Original version ~~~

Through a Gilded Mirror


I passed the past along a gilded hall—
Bedecked in silk, not recognizing me—
The years between us looming like a wall
Of calendars with worn dates hard to see.
I fought the urge to chase this chance event,
So memory could play its forgetting plot,
My steps on marbled gleam grew in ascent
To futures that the present hadn't sought.
The lobby light lacquered her common face
With champagne glow it hadn't earlier known,
As though these years had dressed her in a grace
More radiant than the aspect she had shown.
I turned the corner, certain in my stride,
That looking back awakened a riptide.

Though looking back awakens a riptide,
And something in me falters in my stride,
Have I forgotten radiance she had shown,
Now crowned with candlelight's revealing grace?
Her presence, familiar and yet unknown,
Our shared timeline shines, oblique, on her face.
The present hoards the futures I once sought,
My halting steps abate in a descent
Where memories diverged and missed the plot—
Two different clocks and one shared chance event,
New calendar dates that neither can see,
The years between us crumbling like a wall.
Her profile, sudden, recognizing me,
Silk slips past me along the gilded hall.