Skip to main content

Sharp Dirty Mirror by Nehemiah Gaines

...


The Wandering samurai 

looked at me with a steaming face. 

His own smoke muffled 

the voices that clung to his past. 


And I begged him to look behind, 

as the voices loudly faded into 

the background. He said 

The only path for peace was 

a red sword. 


He told a story about a desperate 

sword that visited 

thousands of blacksmiths, 


And for the sake of clarity it must taste a 

thousand human screams. 


The blade was placed on my throat as his 

shaky hands tried to 


balance on the thin tightrope. 


Until he finally looked behind to meet the 

wandering eyes among the ghostly crowd. 


A voice told him that all he needed to 

do is learn to love, 


But he couldn't do that with a

Sharp dirty mirror. 


...


Nehemiah Gaines is a 25 year old student who is currently attending a community college for psychology in Portland, Oregon. As a lover of anything related to the mind and human nature, he naturally puts a lot of concepts of inner life in his poems. He aspires to find his calling in life that is able to put him in a position to spread the message of inner healing. Getting his poem submitted for the first time is only a first step in his bigger aspiration of the message of self love.