Shadow

 My shadow wants to walk,

One step ahead. Always in a rush,

Trying to reach everywhere,

Every time. Even if my legs

Feel like lead, my feet like two

Iron balls, dragging on a rusted chain.

It tells me to keep moving.

Sometimes my eyes can't see anything

Clearly; the mist of my failures,

Loom in my vision, like a juggernaut,

Blocking simple answers and explanations.

My hands want to reach out, but I

Pull in my fingers and make a fist.

My mouth wants to say so much,

But my tongue is clipped, like

An old file, papers and footnotes,

Held together to make sense 

Of all that goes wrong and be warned.

Sometimes the yellow papers

Slip out and lie in a heap

On the floor, because there is way too much

That can not be held in all the time.

But my shadow doesn't like the burdens

I carry around. It mocks my existence.

I beg, please slow down. I will

Listen to you and all that you want returned,

But give me time to gather my thoughts.

My shadow says, I'm here now.

There is so much to be said and done.

There is no time to waste.

So pick up your sorry excuses, 

And pack up your waiting games.

I assure it I will. We sit at the station,

We run behind trains. 

There are no travellers. Only my shadow

And I. And we drink together at sunset.

Then I pull it closer and bring it inside.

We go to sleep holding hands,

Like branches of an evergreen tree.

Always together, always one.