Her Morphology

Angela Acosta

Her face morphs in the mirror,
shower steam reveals
an unexpected vision
of the many lives she has lived.

Aghast, she sees a child,
pigtails and all,
her once alter ego,
the curious and creative girl,
the sometimes tomboy
who climbed monkey bars
to her heart’s content.

Cheekbones emerge,
assured eyes of the teenager,
wanting to prove something
with her verses and rhyme.
She wanted to be someone.

Teenage her thought she would write
her way to a story, her youth
shook her with angst and longing
while her older self holds her steady.

The mirror clears again,
a crisp image of the present,
still rushing towards her own possibility,
clamoring not for wisdom,
but to be taken seriously.

Long hair will change again,
laugh lines could appear,
a tinge of age will grace her exterior
but there will be no doubt
of the paths she took
beyond expectations and fear,
to dive into the humid mirror
and become herself,
her own morphology.