The shadow
by Bridin Nolan
I had a dream one night,
That upon the town of Slade,
An elemental shadow followed me
In the blank mist of the shade.
I was alone that frozen night,
No one could hear me scream,
Then I woke up in such a horrible fright,
It was only just a dream.
There was a knock upon my bedroom door,
Beside the candle’s flame,
A familiar shadow stepped inside,
I realised it was the same.
The blackness dampened out the dimming little flame,
And the elemental shade crept round the bed’s cold metal frame.
I stood up and tried to evade the shadow,
T’was such a treacherous feat,
I landed in front of the mirror and noticed I was rather incomplete.
I looked the same, no change there,
Same nose, same lips, same jaws,
Same ears, same cheeks, same hair.
But the light beamed from the hallway
Silently without a sound,
I froze up in terror as I looked down at the ground.
There was an absence, I could see,
There was no shadow adjacent to me.
T’was then I looked at the shadow,
In a kind of questioning way,
As it assembled to the shape,
That was mine from day to day.
So I stepped into the shadow, following logic
Not the heart.
For it was only then I learned,
This creature had not got a heart.
It was a freelancer,
A half, not a whole.
Like a singer without lyrics,
Like an actor without its role.
So sad a thing it is to say,
That I should surely miss its shade,
For when I leave it’ll find someone else,
And leave me in my grave.
I had a dream one night,
That upon the town of Slade,
An elemental shadow followed me
In the blank mist of the shade.
I was alone that frozen night,
No one could hear me scream,
Then I woke up in such a horrible fright,
It was only just a dream.
There was a knock upon my bedroom door,
Beside the candle’s flame,
A familiar shadow stepped inside,
I realised it was the same.
The blackness dampened out the dimming little flame,
And the elemental shade crept round the bed’s cold metal frame.
I stood up and tried to evade the shadow,
T’was such a treacherous feat,
I landed in front of the mirror and noticed I was rather incomplete.
I looked the same, no change there,
Same nose, same lips, same jaws,
Same ears, same cheeks, same hair.
But the light beamed from the hallway
Silently without a sound,
I froze up in terror as I looked down at the ground.
There was an absence, I could see,
There was no shadow adjacent to me.
T’was then I looked at the shadow,
In a kind of questioning way,
As it assembled to the shape,
That was mine from day to day.
So I stepped into the shadow, following logic
Not the heart.
For it was only then I learned,
This creature had not got a heart.
It was a freelancer,
A half, not a whole.
Like a singer without lyrics,
Like an actor without its role.
So sad a thing it is to say,
That I should surely miss its shade,
For when I leave it’ll find someone else,
And leave me in my grave.