By Laura Pathe
Why is it so hard to find yourself
Amongst this unkept rubble?
Lost within the reflections of
A maze of maddening mirrors.
Shuffling through the broken glass,
A film begins to form.
Eyes no longer hold the truth,
Reflections are no more.
Now fingers map the shattered hope,
Which once wound round the moon.
They trail through the powdered dust,
And paint the scenes of futures lost…
Why is it so hard to find yourself
In a land of broken mirrors?
The image shattered, cruel and lost,
Is stored within another’s.
To walk within that twisted land,
Of scenes of pain and hurt,
The feet must bleed upon the paths
of crunching glass and dirt.
Our worlds are broken in our minds,
There is no way to fix them.
We burrow in the debris of
Our land of broken mirrors.
You have to stop and reassess,
To wait, to pause, to think.
Sit within the shimmering dust –
Claw away from the brink.
Laura Pathe is currently studying for an MA in Gothic Literature. She recently moved to Manchester due to the city’s vibrant Gothic scene and writes as a way of expressing a sense of individualism in an increasingly fast-paced and demanding society.
Featured image and gallery: Hoang Phan Notebooks were carried from one workshop to another. Writers from different generations sat around tables, sharing manuscripts and listening to each other. Outdoors, small groups strolled along Oxford Road, pausing before buildings steeped in literary history. This was the scene during the Manchester Writing School Summer Festival 2026, held…
Featured image: Katja Ogrin With many sore heads and limbs this morning after the most hardcore day of the festival taking place yesterday, many are recovering from the moshing and pit brutality of the previous day’s antics. As the tradition of a morning movie in the Serpents Lair prevails, the crowd sprawls out onto the plush,…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After an electrifying start to the weekend, with temperatures slowly climbing, many lather themselves in suncream, shed their band shirts and rise from their tents to trek towards the arena. Saturday has big things incoming for the humans of Bloodstock 2026. Some pace themselves for the day and hide from the early…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After a memorable Thursday opener, Bloodstock 2026 opens its gates once again onto the Hallowed Grounds of Catton Park, kicking off day two of its 25th-anniversary celebration of metal. As the sun rises on Catton Park, festivalgoers emerge from their tents to prepare for another day of mayhem. The morning brings…
Leave a reply