for those who should look in the mirror and be overwhelmed with joy always.

Sometimes it’s enough.

Sometimes she can look in the mirror and it doesn’t disgust her because her skin’s clear and her eyes are big and bright and ringed with dark lashes and she’s always liked the way her mouth looks when she’s calm though she’ll never admit it.

Sometimes, if she looks really closely, she can see what people say is there. It never stays very long, but that little flash of hope reignites the flame again and keeps it burning, even lowly, til the next time.

Sometimes she wonders if those eyes are hers and sometimes she’s confused because she’ll catch a glimpse and have to look back because she doesn’t know who that person is.

Sometimes it feels like mirrors within mirrors and she’ll remember that tute where Ali stumbled over her words trying to explain it because it was like something terrible would happen if she didn’t.

Sometimes she wonders what it would feel like to have someone listen like she listened to Ali that day.

It doesn’t matter though, because the sometimes when it’s enough are enough to fend off the worst of the times when it isn’t and calm the fire that swells when Todd and Brad and Karl invade.

Sometimes the mirrors within mirrors are enough because they see deeper sometimes.