Wandering through mirrors

Wandering through mirrors

A prose poem by Naomi Ward

Image Created using Gemini

For years I wandered through mirrors, reflections, and expectations, searching for something real. I looked in the stories others told about me, in the names they offered, in the roles they insisted I should play. I searched in crowded rooms and quiet mornings, in hope and in heartbreak, always sensing that something essential remained just beyond reach.

Then, after all that searching, I arrived at a simple and astonishing truth.

The thing I was seeking was not hidden in the world. It was waiting within me.

Not a stranger. Not a dream. Not a destination.

Me.

When I finally met myself, there was no fanfare, no trumpet call, only the deep, steady recognition of coming home. The long search dissolved into acceptance. The questions softened into knowing. The distance between who I was and who I am vanished like mist beneath the morning sun.

I searched for something real and finally found me. In finding myself, I found the freedom to live, the courage to be seen, and the quiet joy of belonging to my own life.