I heard in a podcast somewhere (maybe Rogan) that human beings aren't built to look in the mirror as much as we currently do. It goes against our nature and is apparently messing with our wiring, hence part of the anxiety (interesting to note it's not all societal standards).
You're a beautiful writer, Eric. I love this in particular
Each word and act
is a thinly veiled memoir
that is either disingenuous,
reeking of some
shallow sophistication,
or clear-eyed
Clear-eyed or disingenuous is an interesting distinction, I think. :)
That's interesting! I suppose their weren't many reflective surfaces long ago except for lakes or ponds. It makes sense that seeing our reflection would make us more narcissistic and force us to focus more outward than inward. Thank you, I really appreciate that @honeydue. I haven't enjoyed writing a poem as much as I did this one in quite some time. I tried a new approach, certain lines or phrases would come to me spontaneously and I typed them out in the Notes app of my phone. After a week I stitched all those lines together in a poem and it was quite interesting how it all came together. I hope you have a good week!