the stories you build of life
Lizzie Smith was born in Scotland. She went to Cambridge University to study literature and ended up working in Japan, Switzerland and England. She is currently a teacher and lives in Edinburgh with her husband and two children. She has had poems published in a number of anthologies including Hammond House, Binsted Arts Festival, Write Out Loud and Planet in Peril.
Someone’s Changed the Flowers
Someone’s changed the flowers
in front of the gilded mirror,
the reflection they make
looks orderly.
Someone’s changed the flowers,
perhaps it was a carer,
the orchids are trained
into shape.
Someone’s changed the flowers,
it’s a different picture now –
the stories you build of life
through the looking glass.
Someone’s changed the flowers:
to you the mirror on the wall shows
the same queen of the drawing room
holding court in her gown.
Someone’s changed the flowers,
like you changed the story of my role,
and my exits and entrances
into pantomime villain.
Lizzie Smith, Edinburgh
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