Double

My niece tells me she met my doppelganger.
She was going bra shopping and to the

woman who was fitting her, she said,
“You look just like my Aunt Ellen.”

“Really?” I said, “Are you sure she wasn’t
a shadow of me?” “No. She looked identical

to you—just like you, except her teeth weren’t
as good.” Do I want to meet this person. Probably

not. I don’t want to be offended by what
she thinks I look like. She told me the woman asked,

“Do you like your Aunt Ellen?” and my niece said,
“I love my Aunt Ellen.” My husband thinks we

should go see her under the guise of bra-shopping.
I sure hope she’s not fat or ugly…Or she’s just a slip

or a shadow of me. I guess I will go and meet her
or should I. Maybe it’s better not to know.

They say everyone has a look-alike somewhere
on earth. Maybe just to know she exists is enough.

*

Ellen Rosenbloom is a poet from New York City. Ellen’s poems have appeared in a chapbook, “Past Life Recall” by Bottlecap Press, and are forthcoming in a chapbook, “Traveling” by Finishing Line Press this August, 2025. Her poems have also appeared in Sonora Review, Zeek, Rosebud, Good Foot, Referential and more.