Reflection

“To look in the mirror these days can be hazardous,”
she said to our side by side reflections in the mirror.
“All of the sudden,
I look entirely different
from the way I looked the night before.”
And it was true – she did look different.
She went from having hair
to having wisps of white on her head –
like a dandelion that had a few wishes left on it.

“I suppose I always wanted to be thin.”
That was true too.
She had always wanted to lose some weight,
but now, she looked like she had barely survived a famine.

I can see why she avoided the stranger
she found in the mirror.
What I regret is
I avoided her too.