I looked in the mirror one day and saw a different woman looking back.

She was not me with shinier hair She was not me with brighter eyes.

She was nothing like me, she was a woman whose laugh was

crueler than my laugh— a woman whose glare

was sharper than mine— a woman who stepped out of her mirror

and put me inside. The mirror world is full of silver shadow bodies.

I watched from the mirror and saw the woman walking in my life. I watched her

from the mirror in my hall. I watched her from the window glass. I watched her

from the gloss on the dinner table. I watched her from the puddle on the street.

She wore my clothes, she ate my food, she made my tea, she washed my dishes,

she danced as she walked, she sang in my shower, but she could not hear my voice.

One day a new girl saw the mirror and I saw she saw me, not herself.

And I smiled at her gently (cruelly) and I beckoned her to come closer (inside)

and I stepped into her shoes (her life) and I left her there to die.