i look at myself in the mirror
and i see a red-haired leopard
with man-eating eyes
that are smudged with left-over eyeliner
from a night-out with the elitists

i see silky, curly red hair
that people so often
get entwined in
thinking that this is the reason
for the things i do

in the mirror my lips are a beautiful snarl
and my freckles,
camouflage for the jungle i creep in  
my nose,
a defining arc

reflected back at me,
a red-haired leopard
in a concrete jungle
doesn't belong here
got put in a zoo
on accident
a red-haired leopard
looking for escape
from inside of me

they'll try to tell you
that mirrors lie
but they
don't