Reflections in the Glass

I stand before the glass once more,
A stranger’s gaze I can’t ignore.
Who is this soul that meets my eyes,
Lost in the echoes of goodbyes.

I trace the past in fleeting thought,
The love I found, the wars I fought.
Would I go back, undo, remake?
Or is regret a choice we fake?

I've known the weight of joy and pain,
A dance of loss, a love in vain.
Yet others bear a heavier fate,
And still, my sorrow won’t abate.

I wish that love was free of cost,
Not bound to grief for what is lost.
A blade that cuts, so slow, so deep,
A silent cry too raw to weep.

Through sleepless nights, my soul still yearns,
For shattered dreams, and bridges burned.
For whispers of a life once planned,
Now dust and ash within my hands.

No golden sun, no rainbow bright,
Just battles fought in fading light.
I stand, I fight, I wear my chain,
For those I love, despite the strain.

Yet where am I within this war?
A shadow stretching evermore.
I give, I bend, I bear, I break,
And still, there’s more that they must take.