Touch My Piece of Sky

I look
Into my looking glass and
See in there another.
We stand
In strange companionship
As one sizes up the other.
“There’s no bile
But piss in your liver” says he.
Oh! My skin and bones
Are on fire.
Where’s my self-respect,
My indignation
That I can slap him with in the face?
He stares at me
Like I’m a glaring misfit,
I just can’t stand his gaze.
Who does he tally me with
That I’m held
So very low?
How has it come about
That I’ve let him
Tread on my toe?
Need I ape the current flavour
Just to get him to smile,
When I know
It’s only to find him
Back to smirking in a while?
Let him know
That I wish to toe no line,
But my very own.
Let him know,
I must possess myself
And not be made his pawn.
I must illumine
My own piece of sky.
I did bide my time
And I know it’s now nigh.
I only wait
With my wings a-flapping,
For that wind to carry me high.
“Won’t you wait with me,
With a smiling face?
Together, we’ll touch the sky.”