Life’s Mirror
Our future is only our past
Reflected, as though in a glass
But made mysterious by Time’s
Refractions through vague surface-dross
That mars its lustre and distorts
The details of its imaged shapes.
When we can rub life’s mirror clean,
(With polish of our common sense),
And turn it to the light of thought
We then may, retrospectively,
See clearly future’s promised face —
Framed by experiences long
Recalled, forgotten or unknown —
Shining before our widened eyes.
Our future is only our past
Reflected as though in a glass.