My Brother’s in Love with His Mirror

I wrote this poem because Valentine’s Day was coming up, and I wanted a silly love poem that felt a little different from the usual ones. I played around with a few ideas first—like a teacher being in love with homework and quizzes, or my cat falling in love with my dog—but none of them quite clicked. Then I started thinking about how some people, especially teenagers, spend a lot of time checking their reflection, and it made me laugh to imagine what that might look like from a sibling’s point of view. Once I had that idea, the poem pretty much wrote itself. I hope you enjoy it. This is…

My Brother’s in Love with His Mirror

My brother is falling in love with his mirror.
At first, I had doubts. Now, it couldn’t be clearer.
He spent today gazing upon his reflection
while whispering words of romantic affection.

He straightened his hair and put on his best shirt,
then said, “Hey, good lookin’,” like some kind of flirt.
He waved at himself as he batted his eyes
then tilted his head and let out a few sighs.

My brother’s behavior is honestly odd.
He smiled at himself with a wink and a nod,
then blew a few kisses and started to blush.
The mirror is clearly my brother’s new crush.

I didn’t know why he was acting this way
when I saw him eyeing his mirror today.
I figured it out, though—it wasn’t that hard—
when I saw him give it a Valentine’s card.

— Kenn Nesbitt