Simply an ancient legend, another fairy tale –
what more could reports of such a mirror be?
Yet he believes! Cryptic clues in olden texts tell
of a tomb where the mirror was sealed for eternity.

For many years he’s sought the mythical mirror.
With each archaeological dig, his fame has spread.
Now, with a rich backer, he’s never felt any nearer
to his prize. This dig saw danger, leaving men dead.

In ancient script around the uncovered tomb’s doorway
is carved, “Beware! Within lies the Mirror Of Souls.”
Elation sweeps over him. “I’ve long lived for this day!”
Remembering his contract, his eagerness he controls.

He e-mails his benefactor, as they had both agreed,
to come immediately to witness the tomb’s opening.
The backer, a man who used ruthlessness and greed
to amass immense wealth and arrogance, is controlling.

He and his trophy wife, a woman as pretty as plastic
surgery, Botox, and blonde hair dye can make, arrive
on the next flight. They prepare to enter. “Fantastic!
This mirror has never been seen by anyone else alive.”

As the tomb’s stone slab slowly pushes aside, light
penetrates thousands of years’ darkness…then they see
a mirror…the mirror… the Mirror of Souls. Their delight
cannot be contained – the first to look, they demand to be.

The tycoon and his young wife rush forward to stand
before the mirror. He gasps. She screams. Before them
they see two hideous images – grotesque, gnarled. Can
this be? They turn away…too late. These images condemn

them to a lifetime filled with depression and deep despair.
A torchbearer -- a simple man, a good man – now leans in
and sees his image – beautiful, a golden glow everywhere
around him. The scientist, fearing what he harbors within,

refuses to look into the glass. In a fit of rage, the rich man
demands, “Destroy the accursed thing! Bury it once again
for all eternity. Let the world judge a man by what they can
see. With a Mirror of Souls, who would ever dare to look in?”

And so the mirror is broken and the tomb sealed as he dictates.
But, he forgets that after death another Mirror of Souls awaits…