In the hall of mirrors
These rooms within rooms are blind and white,
Their narrow slits and other means of exit
All but invisible, defined as they are
Against nothing. Entry is free.
People move slowly, absorbed,
Admiring themselves, seeing themselves
In the endless replication of forms, the repeated
Ambiguities of bodily shapes.
As he stares into a polished surface
Words form: ‘I am me,’ but the answering tongue
Says, ‘Wrong. Subject cannot be object.’
His whispers echo in the high space.
Along the walls of the gallery, laid out
In matching pairs or collectors’ sets
Obsessively duplicated, see
Our secret parts cut open for display,
Left side, right side, mirror images,
Each twin strand of flesh or gut
Screwed, tied down with leather string,
Or fastened with a black satin bow,
While in rows, like scalps or game birds,
Hang excised pockets of tissue and skin
Closed or exposed, turned inside out,
All swollen with desire or death.
Riveted, she sighs: her inner self!
He takes his last look; they turn and go.
Only now I notice by the door
A tall urn of white and golden flowers.
Page(s) 46-47
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