At first the shadow smiled.
Darkness has no weight, and its smile was as empty as the air.
Watching it haunt me, dancing,
I fancied it had a purpose,
That if I left it long enough it would go away.
But the moon revealed a sinister side;
The face – that was mine – turned,
The lips curdled into a snarl,
The dance a march, stomping.
Night-time became my prison;
Stuck inside, in brilliant light, buried and burned in brightness,
I yearned for the half-grey twilight,
For the softer shades on corners,
For the plump heaviness of depth.
Outside, the city roared;
I had no part of it, but gazed out as a stranger must gaze on another world.
Who would hold me from my shadow?
None, but me;
My only weapon, light.
I slept; but my dreams were fractured, shattered,
The city’s call oppressive,
The moments dragging,
The hours, dead.
I paced; I turned;
Threw myself into books;
Marched the square space, seething.
I would damn light!
Without light there would be no dark!
The moments mounted into terror,
A fear of stillness,
For in stillness shadows crept,
A fear of sleep,
For black behind my eyes began to move,
A fear of tiredness,
For I was getting weak.
Shadows: how they crawled,
Always out of sight, resting, testing,
Forever waiting,
Breathing,
Slipping,
Climbing,
Pouncing,
Disappearing,
Flat and tiny snakes, violent, chasing.
Light!
Light kept me alive,
But light was killing me,
Throbbing into my eyes,
Glaring into my brain,
A sea of pain, drowning me.
I paced;
I swore;
Grasped at the half-torn madness,
Fluttered at my dying sanity.
A shadow!
Tiny, slithering, flitting and flickering,
It hugged the far corners,
Eyeing me.
Keep back!
It made no move,
Paused in its feeble strength,
Holding, weighing,
Delicately testing,
And now it began to grow,
Faintly, slowly,
Battling the steady light,
Feeding, breathing, absorbing, cursing,
Fighting its way to a bitter strength,
Watching, expanding,
Quietly laughing,
A liquid pool of black washing, lapping,
Endlessly consuming.
The floor shrank;
Slowly, mightily,
The darkness cursed its way forwards,
Touching and eating,
Irresistible,
As the lights flickered and a gloom descended …
20/07/08
1
Comment by shelbi
this is very mysterious and drawed me in!
Posted on: November 5th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
2
Comment by Anonymous
noice man
Posted on: November 25th, 2008 at 7:25 am
3
Comment by blackwyngs age-14
To run from your shadow is to run from yourself, the person who wrote this obviously had that in mind, so as a note to the person who wrote the poem, stop running and face the shadow.
Posted on: December 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
4
Comment by Mon'ea
this was a fantastic poem
Posted on: December 11th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
5
Comment by Vladimir
well…. if he don’t face the shadow, he will forever
face a life in pergitory. But, if he were to find a way to
face it at its weakness….then he might be able to defeat it.
Posted on: January 15th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
6
Comment by Anonymous
Very scary indeed. made you think. almost stephen king scary but not Twisted enough.
Posted on: February 1st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
7
Comment by reeta
That was pretty scaty, and pretty weird.
The person who wrote this poem is one of two things, either afraid or abnormal!
Anyway, strength is released from the core of the heart!
Posted on: February 18th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
8
Comment by Anonymous
werey bad
Posted on: February 26th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
9
Comment by Anonymous
really wierd but cool
Posted on: March 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
10
Comment by Unknown
cool poem…but a little weird…lol. it was REALLY nice. i could never write such a good poem like u!great job!
hugs,
Unknown:D
Posted on: March 26th, 2009 at 8:52 am
11
Comment by Haii, Im Bobberzz?
I felt.. I Felt Bothered,Disturbed, And Frighten! This Poem Is Awsome! This Is Exactly What I Was Looking For! Thanks Whoever Wrote This Poem! It really was what I was looking for!
Posted on: May 3rd, 2009 at 12:04 am
12
Comment by Anonymous
i think it was 2 long coz i was writin it 4 my cousin its a neck pain but i dd enjoyn it but ddnt think it was dat scary
Posted on: July 29th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
13
Comment by vad
wickead awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on: November 4th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
14
Comment by xrussianwinnerx
the poem wasnt dark enough.
he was running from a shadow.
it cant hurt you. for your shadow is just apart of you.
to run from it is like running from your reflection.
it is not possible there for you need to stop running and face your fears.
hes fighting with something internal instead of external.
in order to face his shadow he must 1st find the problem, and think of a solution.
then and only then can you get out of the dark and into the light.
********* nice comment, but he was running from his shadow as well.
RM**************
Posted on: November 11th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
15
Comment by Anonymous
cool!!
Posted on: December 15th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
16
Comment by Rile4y (the fours silent)
I really like this poem and i am using it for my poetry!!
Posted on: April 19th, 2010 at 9:19 am
17
Comment by chrissy45
good poem about the tales of darkness and the monsters upon it. you are a very good poet.
Posted on: January 13th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
18
Comment by Heather
I know the feeling when it comes to running away from your shadow or yourself.
We run because our shadows remind us of all the bad we’ve done to others
and to ourselves. It was as if he was running away from his past life but it
wouldnt let him go. So he ran and ran, and he got weak. his past life was haunting
just like his future life is killing him. Maybe light isnt so bright after all.
Posted on: April 16th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
19
Comment by amelia
wow!this realy got me thinking what if…D:
Posted on: August 9th, 2011 at 10:27 pm