This morning when I searched the mirror
I found someone so vastly unfamiliar
that I recognized myself
as that other who has passed
her whole life inside my body
the one who set up house
like a small, worried spider
at my birth. I wiped traces of her torn
webs from under my eyes, smoothed
her busy scratchings from the corners
of my mouth. Later, as I sipped my coffee
from a warm, painted mug
I knew I was tasting the full, bitter flavor
with her lips, her tongue.
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