(Collaboration (2

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Maha:

Mirror, mirror on the wall
who’s the prettiest of them all?
I wear a hand-me-down crown
of typical beauty standards, heels over
rain boots. It’s raining, and I’m stranded
wondering if my body is a gift; why am I still unravelled?
Instead, every curve is carved like wood
freckles — untouchable thorns
Tangled with roots
of stretch marks — permanent
making me feel like I’m branded
Beauty is a complex concept, and
I’m trying to understand it.
Tell me, is there a rose hiding
behind your glass?

MANNY:

There is a rose behind this glass
roots in the tremor
of the things that passed
A sense of hope in the shards and smoke
beauty in the fault lines,
power in the change
cloaked in strength that the world can’t see
So let the window splinter, let the petals fall
You were never meant to live inside a wall
You’re beautiful, not despite the cracks
but because you kept walking
and never looked back.

The princess heals, the prince turns his back

MANNY:

Mirror, mirror on the wall 

who’s the most powerful of them all? 

They say you're not tough, 

just man up, they keep echoing 

like it’s somethin’ you can buy 

like a coat you put on 

so the world won’t see you cry 

But these tiles keep holdin’ every tear I drop 

like a gallery of all the times I’ve had to stop 

I’ve been scrollin’ through the weather,

lookin’ for some sun 

but the forecast keeps yelling 

rain is gonna run 

I’m tryin’ to be strong 

but I feel frozen in a frame 

I trace my outline like 

it’s chalk upon the floor 

Trying to draw a 

Bigger man on this same old door

Mirror 

Why do you cut me so deep? 

Showin’ every angle of the strength 

I can’t keep 

Feelin’ weak, 

Like a branch in the storm 

Mirror, do you even know me?

Maha:

Power is inherited

not a coat worn in summertime 

Not a trend that drains your reflection

the pressure builds; they stole your crown

strength is a curse disguised as a gift, but I see you now. You tried carrying the throne 

on your back, the storm off the sky

but I see strength through your teary eyes

I know your name

and you are never meant to carry

weights of metal, to trade your true colours

with bodybuilders 

chosen to be kings but I see

radiance in floods of feelings, power in poetry love in breakdowns then becoming

a reflection worth treasuring 

I see you

I know you

Now, look at me. 

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MAHA & MANNY