Imaginary fetters

Blazing squinting eyes
    all around;
that watchful shadow
    keeps sidling behind.
He bound himself with fetters
    of sneering looks,
and opinions, if only he'd see,
    so vulgar.

The soul attire of conduct
    and uttered words,
reflected but sham image
    of the inside.
He scrutinized his portrait
    in the looking-through glass,
but could not recognize the one
    he had become.

He perceived he lived more
    for others,
suppressing and profoundly hiding
    his dreams;
that insipid life did
    fade away
when he'd unleashed
    his real core.