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The Shadow Man

I once met a shadow man
And was fortunate enough to glimpse his eyes
Filled as they were with pain and regret
For days gone by and dreams unfulfilled
But even luckier was I to speak to him
To ask two questions of the shade
Those two which plague each man
For each of his days
Eyes closed, I stilled my breath
And asked him of my first.

The young man replied, smiling:
“Nothing further could I regret
Than bright dreams of mine left unfulfilled
My sweetheart taken by another
My mother left alone to wither
And I forgotten, ling’ring to wander
For the remainder of eternity with my only regrets
Not ones of my actions
But of the actions that I did not
Have the chance to take.”

I then asked him of my second pond’ring:
“I must know, my dear good sir
Why is it that you tarry here?
For here the air is bitter with mem’ry
Lurking in these shaded groves
And darkened bushes beneath the wise pines
Each filled with plaguing regrets
Long since and from this day
As dusty remnants from centuries flitted by.”

He shook his head and smiled once more:
“You are still innocent and pure
Knowing so very little of loss
I stay in this place, home to me
With these ling’ring memories
Bitter though they might appear
Are to I a long forsaken home
They and this leaf-numbed hilltop
Are my only homes amidst all the world’s great wonders.”

“I may travel wherever I wish
For time to me matters not
But here, in this land of wind and chill
Here, in this place steeped in regrets gone by
Long before we two ever breathed our first
This is where I wish to be
More than anywhere else
More than any other place in creation
For this small, gold-dust hill is mine alone.”

And with these parting words he left me there
His stone perch desolate, abandoned
Standing – a testament to his eternal presence
And I looked down at it, wondering
How it was that memory outlasted
All things, even time itself
And I looked down, smiling
For he and his words
Filled with their wistful remorse.

With that final thought I turned on my heel
To walk off his leaf-shrouded home
And back to my own
To a home warm with fire
A room made inviting with a soft bed
And an open door
Welcoming with the arms of the people I loved
There I walked - home
Thoughts consumed by the regretful shadow man.



This is by far the longest poem I've ever written, coming out to 70 lines. I must confess - this isn't one of my favorites amongst my numerous works, but others have seemed to enjoy it greatly. The style is a bit different for me because I emphasized imagery more than meaning and symbolism, the reverse of my normal technique. As for the lack of a solid rhythm, well... it started out with an extremely consistent beat, but after numerous edits, I ended up sacrificing rhythm in order to say what I wanted to. I blame it on Homer! (At the time this was written, I had just finished reading a shortened version of The Odyssey.)

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it! ^_^

-Aurah