The Mirror at Three

I wake at 3 AM from dreams I can’t remember feeling watched
Stumble to the bathroom half-asleep turn on the light and stop
The face looking back isn’t mine the features are all wrong
Someone else is wearing my reflection
and they’ve been there all along
Same build same height same everything except the eyes are dead
And the mouth curves different
and I know with certainty and dread
That whoever this is has been practicing has been learning how I move
Has been studying my mannerisms waiting for the moment to improve
Their impersonation waiting for me to notice them

At three AM the mirror shows me who I’m not
At three AM I see the thing that I forgot
Was living in the glass pretending to reflect
At three AM the face I wear becomes suspect
This is terror made of familiarity gone slightly wrong
This is recognizing features that don’t quite belong

I’m staring at an almost-me an approximation close
But missing something fundamental something I can’t diagnose
I blink they blink but half a second late
I raise my hand theirs follows but the timing’s not quite right
And I’m frozen standing there at 3 AM
Wondering if I’m dreaming or if something else began
When I stopped paying attention to my own reflection
Stopped checking if the person in the mirror showed connection
To the person that I am or if they’d slowly been replaced
By something wearing my appearance wearing my own face

I turn away but can’t shake the feeling that they’re still there
Still watching from the glass still wearing what I wear
Still perfecting their impression still preparing for the day
When they emerge and I’m the one trapped in the mirror’s way
I go back to bed but can’t sleep can’t close my eyes
Keep seeing that face that almost-face that compromise
Between my features and something else’s needs
Wondering how long they’ve been there how long they’ve been learning me
If every mirror holds one if every reflection hides
Something patient something hungry something that resides
In the space between the glass and what we think we see

Now every mirror makes me hesitate makes me check
Makes me study my reflection looking for the defect
Looking for the sign that something else is looking back