The Flaw You're Looking For

My neighbor said I had nice eyes

this morning.

I came inside

and checked the mirror

on the apartment door,

looked for the flaw

that must be there,

the thing she was being

polite about,

the thing I know

is there,

the thing I've always known

is there.

This is the first time

someone said something like that

in years,

and my first response was

the same as it was then,

when I was younger,

when someone else

said I was beautiful,

and I checked the mirror

then too,

and I looked for the flaw

then too,

and I found it,

and I said

no,

and I meant it.

I didn't believe it then.

I don't believe it now.

The mirror shows my face.

It's the same face

it's always been.

Nothing has changed

since yesterday,

since the year before that,

since the first time

someone tried to tell me

something kind

and I had to refuse it,

had to turn it away,

had to say

no,

you're mistaken,

I checked,

I looked,

I found the flaw,

and it's still there.

I close the apartment door.

My face disappears

from the mirror.

This is easier.