She looked in the mirror
Like she did everyday
It showed her the same freckled girl
But today it had something different to say

The mirror couldn’t speak (of course)
But the words resonated in her head
Words that belonged to the girl
The one she should have helped.

“You look like an angel,
You sound like a songbird
But there’s something in the depths of you
The truth that was never heard.”

“What is it?” she asked,
“What have I done?”
For a while, not a thing moved
Then, what she saw left her stunned.

Red hair, sparkling eyes, a twisted smile—
The face of her friend,
The one she began her life with,
And the life she brought to an end.

She was so real, so beautiful
Nothing like the girl who died
This is how she would have smiled
If she had a hand to help.

“She had a hand to help.”
Said the mirror, “She did.
That hand could have pulled her to life
That hand was yours indeed.”

She shut her eyes, but she still saw it
The face that filled her heart with dread,
And broke it into a million pieces.
She rubbed her eyes till all she saw was red.

When she finally could open her eyes,
The face was gone, the voice was quiet.
She saw the same face she saw everyday
But in her eyes, was a painful plight.

The mirror showed her what she was
Nothing but a porcelain doll
Fake and hollow, filled with sorrow
Her pride had taken a humble fall.

She knew she had things to set right,
Things that made her guiltful
She had to bring a dead friend justice,
And for this to the mirror she was grateful.