For Kortzie, Happy Birthday!
Love's Reflection
(Rumplestiltskin to Belle in the Dark Castle)
A reflection in a mirror
Shows only on the surface
What eyes divine.
And all those eyes see
Is a beast, scaled and golden
A monster of shadows and darkness
Come to steal away their children and make deals for their souls.
When I looked in a mirror,
All that my eyes divined
Was a monster, ancient and cold,
With a heart frozen in time,
From missing the one he loved best.
Next I saw the failed spinner, the coward mocked and spit on,
Never to know the grace of his peers
His only triumph of note—his beloved son.
But then you came—a tempestuous beauty
To fill my days and nights with talk
Of books and sundry things,
To bring light back into my gray existence,
And chase away the shadows.
You gave me hope, you made me feel
Like I was more than what my reflection showed.
Your keen wit challenged mine,
Your compassion stirred my own,
Your joy in simple treasures—
A walk, the touch of my hand, a smile
Reminded me of all I'd forgotten,
And that the greatest treasure of all was not spun gold,
But a pure and loving heart.
Your eyes did not divine the beast—
Instead you saw the man beneath,
The flawed imperfect man
And yet you loved him.
The heart knows and the heart loves
And what the heart loves cannot be denied.
My heart knows that I love thee,
And I know again what I did before
That a mirror's reflection sometimes lies.
And in love's reflection I am, once again,
Complete,
As at last my eyes divine the truth-
perfect love makes heroes out of imperfect people.
