I am a shadow of someone
my own age,
wandering around, bartering,
and sagging at the waist

I am a shadow
of someone who smirks crookedly,
picks up where he left off,
and dies on the spot;
a jester
with a myocardial infarction & cancer

Yes, I am a shadow of someone
uncannily alike,
dead tired,
ashes to ashes

I am a shadow
beneath drifting skies
and widening horizons;

the shadow of a chance
in someone perpetually unreal,
waking from incomprehensible dreams
in the early morns
watching dawn prepare itself for noon
and the end of life;

a shadow among conscripted soldiers
and tenant farmers;
among recruits with twisted mustaches
on yellowed photographs;
a dissolved outline
in due course's ever extended shadow;
a glint over the crust of snow
in the harsh light of war
piercing every crack & crevice;

a stark shadow over the crowd;
a proclaimer of benedictions & the King's toast