Poem For A Shadow

All apologies to Hughes Mearn. (Photo by Brian J. White.)

**

Yesterday, on the street,
I met a man not so fleet.
He’s a shadow without body, a wayward sort,
Who haunts the areas around the port.

He never says a word, only waits,
Like a man not aware he’s been stood up for a date.
I asked him several times if I could aid him,
Before light and time would surely fade him.

Finally one night he answered me,
Much to my surprise and glee.
“I am but a portent of doom,
Staying here until you all join me in the Stygian gloom.
Your end is coming fast and messy,
So if I were you I’d wear something a little less dressy.”

So if you see a shadow without a man,
There’s no point in running away.
For you and I will join him soon,
And here we will all stay.