Imagine a mirror large enough to reflect the whole.
Now imagine it shattered.
The obvious task would seem to be reconstruction.
Yet that is rarely what happens.
People pick up the fragments.
Some pieces are useful.
Some pieces are beautiful.
Some fit together in unexpected ways.
Soon, new structures begin to emerge.
A few fragments become a decoration.
A few more become a tool.
Others become the foundation of entirely new constructions.
The original mirror remains on the floor.
Not ignored exactly.
Simply postponed.
The reconstruction is difficult.
It requires patience.
It requires coordination.
It requires holding an image of a whole that no longer exists.
Working with fragments is easier.
The fragments produce results.
The fragments solve problems.
The fragments justify further attention.
And slowly, the purpose changes.
The goal is no longer to restore the mirror.
The goal becomes improving the structures built from its pieces.
Generations pass.
More fragments are borrowed.
More structures are built.
People inherit the structures but not always the reason they were built.
The further the fragments travel from the mirror, the harder it becomes to recognise where they came from.
Eventually, restoring the mirror would require dismantling parts of what has been built around it.
The cost becomes almost unthinkable.
So the fragments remain where they are.
The structures continue to grow.
And the mirror waits.
© 2026 Meryem Boujida. All rights reserved.