"Shadows" Inspired by Such a Pretty Smile:

Shadows

They won’t leave me alone.

Even when the sun shines highest,

I see the shadows at my vision’s edge.

I pretend they no longer frighten me.

Breathing deeply, I lie to myself

The shadows can’t reach me here.

When I was younger,

I thought our neighborhood was magic-filled

because the shadows looked like black cats

wandering everywhere –

not specifically tracking me.

The shadows can’t reach me here.

I don’t know when the shadows morphed

from magical black cats

to flashes of tails and teeth and staring eyes,

but I can feel their maliciousness,

their hatred.

The shadows can’t reach me here.

They want me to become one of them –

a phantom of darkness

that delights in misfortune, pain, humiliation

that thrives on discomfort and corruption

and causes suffering.

The shadows can’t reach me here.

I don’t know how I learned their goal,

but it only made it worse.

They stalk my every step

and take shifts on the back of my eyelids.

I don’t know how much longer I can tell myself

The shadows can’t reach me here.

I don’t think I believe it anymore.

But without the lie

I’d have to admit

they’ve already won.

The shadows are here.

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