The Mirror Lied - a Poetic Phrase on Younger Days

"The Lord prefers common looking people.
That is why He made so many of them."
Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865)
16th President of the United States

When I was just a little girl,
I thought that I was fat.
My tiny perfect playmate
Was my only thermostat.

She had a skinny little waist
And long toothpicky limbs,
Ideal for running bases and
For climbing jungle gyms.

I had a stubby frumpy form,
The shortest in the class,
Completely opposite to her,
The ideal hourglass.

She wore the latest fashions
With complete accessories,
And everything she tried, she did
With dignity and ease.

But I wore boyish hand-me-downs,
My brother's outgrown jeans,
Until I started earning,
Somewhere halfway through my teens.

Out by the fence, we'd stand a-row,
To choose up sides for sport.
She'd be elected captain,
And I'd be the last resort.

And everyone adored her,
As she modeled peace and poise.
The life of every party,
She attracted all the boys.

Her phone would ring forever,
While mine held a dial tone.
She'd spend her weekends on the town,
And I'd be home alone.

I'd ponder, and I'd wonder
If my turn would come one day.
It seemed unfair, this friend so fair
Swept everyone away.

The two of us fell out of touch,
Around age seventeen.
I hit the books, and she went on
To be a beauty queen.

By twenty-one, she had three kids,
Two daughters and a son.
She caught her husband cheating,
And her world, it came undone.

Perhaps life was a lot more fair
Than I had ever known.
Misfortune stuck her harder,
For she ended up alone.

Could be the mirror lied to us;
In hindsight, we can view.
Misjudgments and misgivings?
Gee, we never had a clue.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

In all fairness, it should be stated that this story is not wholly true. In fact, it is mostly a fabrication, a prevarication and a false declaration. True friends, be wary and gracious. Please try not to see yourselves in these lines.

However, the point may still be taken . . .