Meeting Myself

In the midst of a crowd on a city street,
I feel the pavement beneath my feet

and the blinding sun is in my eyes;
I can’t see the faces of passers-by

who jostle me with their bags and elbows
and I know that it’s time I headed home.

I’m passing by my favourite store,
which tempts me to linger a few minutes more,

so I stop and stare at the window display,
my nose to the glass, keeping out of the way

of a busker singing a sorrowful song
and his audience as they shuffle along.

In the periphery of my gaze, I see
my reflection standing next to me:

same face, hair and even expression,
like me but from another dimension.

The clothes are wrong, fashionable and dear,
not the sort of thing I can afford to wear,

and she’s laden with bags from upmarket boutiques
while my hands are empty – our eyes swiftly meet.

In her eyes I see loneliness and despair;
I can’t help but smile to sever the stare

and offer my help with her bags and sorrow.
I walk to the bus and hope to see her tomorrow.

Kim M. Russell, 2nd August 2018

Image result for paintings and artwork of doppelganger Pinterest
‘Dos Fridas’ by Frida Kahlo – image found on Wikipedia

My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Bits of Inspiration: Doppleganger

Susie asks if we have ever wondered if there is someone who looks just like us who we’ve never met. She says that although she has been told that there is someone who bears a strong resemblance to her, she has yet to meet her doppelganger.

For today’s challenge Susie wants us to write about an encounter with our doppelgänger/time travellers. It could be a painting, a photo album, a magazine, or face to face. We can meet them in whatever circumstances our imaginations create just as long the poems are new.

25 thoughts on “Meeting Myself”

  5. I hope you see her tomorrow also, Kim. This was pleasant reading, the kind of happening thing most of us would enjoy. My look-alike is also more well to do than I. I loved your reference to the busker, I like them. BTW, I was surprised to discover that in the Tubes of Londong they rent their spaces. “It ain’t free.”
    ..

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  6. I don’t spend a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror at home, so have often “met a double” in a window and thought either “There’s a pitiful old hag” or “There’s a woman I’d like to look like”–then remembered that that’s what a certain outfit plus a certain level of health/energy do for me.

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  10. this is fascinating, and well versed ~ I like the deeper meanings, and the way you’ve caught the precise moment of a gaze caught, held, and then broken – and knowing, intuiting the deeper meanings we never have to speak – but are inherent, important and meaningful conversations with ourselves 🙂

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