Pas De Deux

I am an old woman,
you are a young man.
So many times we have confronted each other,
so many times we have not seen eye to eye.
Look into my eyes now,
I’ll look into yours.
Look past me as a protester,
I’ll look past you as an arm of the Law.
What do you see?
I’ll tell you what I see.
Two mirrors facing each other,
with nothing but contact in between.
If there were not two, would there be one?
If there were not one, would there not be two?
You standing there in riot gear,
I standing before you in search of humanity.
They can see my eyes but they can’t see yours.
Can you see my eyes?
I don’t mean you any harm—
I am what you must become,
if you are to go on living.
You are what I must become
if we are to uphold the spirit of the Law.