Shadow World
Shadow World
Where lives the you, you would deny.
When at last
you close your tired eyes,
allowing sleep to loosen
your firm grasp on reality,
do you finally begin to see
all those wonderful spirits
skirting the veil of consciousness
and clamoring to enter
your awoken spirit?
Or are your dreams forgotten,
suppressed by a medication
powerful enough to silence
even the noisiest voices
demanding your soul?
There are giants surrounding you,
laughing, cajoling, conspiring,
certain you'll never close your eyes
to find them in the shadows
where they live and breathe.
Until you see them,
until you know them,
they come relentlessly
to carry you away -
a speck of dust at a time.
Blow out the candle
and wait for the invitation
to follow the herd of sheep
where you'd rather not go.
Befriend those mysterious voices
and pay careful attention
as they step out of the shadows
to reveal who you truly are.
Some people have an identity.
I have an alibi.
I have a shadow self.
~ Andre Aciman
