Illuminated Path

I see the reflection in the mirror

My visual, distorted and never clear

Memories’ infliction on my skin

A tapestry of the places I’ve been

My inner voice, the cruelest sound

Critical, but yet…so profound

A false picture, For many years

Self hatred and countless tears

A prisoner of my mind

Hope, I contend to find

Beliefs, never set in stone 

The critic, voice-was not my own